Forbes.com‘s Feb. 24th issue has a good article on the “A To Z Of De-stressing” that includes a slide show, where A is for Acupuncture, B is for Booze, C is for Chamomile Tea, and so on.

If I were to rework it for me, it would be something like:
A is for Acting silly, B is for Breathing slowly and deeply, C is for Cats,
D is for Deep conversations, E is for Exercise, F is for Fussing with my hair, makeup, or wardrobe,
G is for Giggling, H is for Humor, I is for Internet, J is for Joking around,
K is for Karsten, L is for Listening to music, M is for Movies,
N is for Noodling on the guitar, O is for Ocean breezes, P is for Pilates,
Q is for Quicken (seriously: feeling in-control of my finances relaxes me), R is for Running, S is for Sex,
T is for Thrift shopping (one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon),
U is for Urban hiking (another one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon), V is for Vacation,
W is for Writing songs, X is for eXploring a new place (thanks for the “eX” idea, Forbes!),
Y is for Yoga, Z is for Zoo (another one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon).

What are your tried and true methods for de-stressing, abecedarian or otherwise?

The A to Z of De-stressing

19 thoughts on “The A to Z of De-stressing

  • February 24, 2005 at 7:01 am
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    listening to trance/dance music. talking to family and friends. gardening. photography. pretending i’m not president.

    Going to a Marty meeting at 8:30am. Just kidding on that one. This day is choc-o-bloc of nonstop ridiculousness.

    Reply
  • February 24, 2005 at 9:37 am
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    Going for a fast hilly walk around town, checking out houses and gardens and sky and people who pass. Ideally, I should be doing this every day for about four miles–more if circumstances call for it.

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  • February 24, 2005 at 11:30 am
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    What is this “de-stressing” of which you speak?

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  • February 24, 2005 at 11:37 am
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    A is for avoidance (sad but true), B is for bed, C is for cooking, D for daydreaming, E for eating, F for friends, G for games, H for hacking, I for internet, J for jokes, K for killing someone (marvellous stress reliever, that), L for laughter, M for music, N for nesting, O for other (not my fault it’s in the middle!), P for praying, Q for quiet, R for reading, S for significant others, T for treating myself, U for uptoolating, V for vacation, W for writing, X for the Ximenean, Y for yesterday (all my troubles seemed so far away!), Z for zoning out

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  • February 24, 2005 at 11:38 am
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    (that was wonderfully fun – thanks :))

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  • February 24, 2005 at 11:55 am
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    (K)ool-aid
    (A)frican drums
    (T)equila
    (E)mpanadas
    (S)ex
    (M)usic
    (E)llipsis…
    (L)ollipops
    (L)entils
    (S)sex again

    Reply
  • February 24, 2005 at 12:13 pm
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    Hey, man, I smell goooood today. Like tangerines. 🙂

    (And sex deserves at least three mentions, but I didn’t want to seem like a pervert.)

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  • February 24, 2005 at 12:16 pm
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    I propose that your “V” stand for “Visiting Kate in Nashville.” 🙂

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  • February 24, 2005 at 12:19 pm
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    So, I take it R is not for ridiculousness?

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  • February 24, 2005 at 12:21 pm
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    Yeah, that sounds nice. You live in a good area for that. I’d have to drive somewhere first and then go for a walk, which is kind of less fun, which is why I don’t get much walking in. I do work right across from the big city park, and I sometimes go for a mid-day stroll out there around the lake. But I hope we end up buying a house in a neighborhood that lends itself to walking, like yours does.

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  • February 24, 2005 at 12:22 pm
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    U for uptoolating

    Beg pardon?

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  • February 24, 2005 at 12:24 pm
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    staying up too late 🙂 (and it actually is a word i use on occasion; i didn’t just invent it in order to have a u)

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  • February 24, 2005 at 12:30 pm
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    You do smell good. I love this new scratch-n-sniff internet technology.

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  • February 24, 2005 at 12:56 pm
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    All day in bed
    Bubble baths
    Cocooning
    Diary ranting
    Exercise
    Fancy hats
    Googling something weird
    Hot tea
    Ice cream
    Junk food
    Krispy Kreme, and Kit Kats,
    Lots of love
    Mushy movies
    Nice summer days
    Options
    Purple gel-pens
    Quiet time
    Rest
    Spiderman movies
    Taking someone out to dinner
    Unschedule time
    Vivaldi
    Walkies
    eXtra chocolate
    eYe candy?
    Zelda video games.

    Reply
  • February 25, 2005 at 5:10 am
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    “Options” is a good one. I like “Purple gel pens,” too. 🙂 And “Taking someone out to dinner.” And “eYe candy.” 🙂

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  • February 27, 2005 at 7:46 am
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    hummm, have to do this – good idea for everyone to.
    I like that some of yours (F) would be stressers for me

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  • March 2, 2005 at 10:36 am
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    Did I just imagine it or did you have newer entries? Where have they all gone?

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  • March 2, 2005 at 10:53 am
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    Are you possibly not signed in? Because everything newer than this is friends-only, which you should be able to see if you’re signed in, but not if you’re not.

    Reply
  • March 2, 2005 at 11:00 am
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    I guess I wasn’t signed in 🙁 Had cookies disabled for testing stuff at work. My bad. 🙂

    Reply

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