You never know when stress is going to strike. It could be when you're stuck in traffic. It could be at work during a busy day. Or maybe your kids are running around the house screaming louder than an airplane taking off.
Whenever a stressful situation pops up, the best thing you can do is be prepared. One of the best ways to do that is to put together a stress relief kit.
What is a Stress Relief Kit?
A stress relief kit is a collection of tools and products to provide you with some quick relief from your stressors.
Think of it in the same way as a survival preparedness kit or a car emergency kit. You keep all the things you need to help you through a specific situation.
But this kit isn't going to be filled with batteries and flashlights. Instead, it's packed with things that will relax you and reduce your stress levels.
Benefits of a Stress Relief Kit
There are plenty of benefits to having a stress relief or stress reduction kit:
- Quick relief from stress and anxiety.
- Prevents you from resorting to unhealthy stress management tactics.
- Provides personalized stress relief.
- It can be used anywhere.
- Easily puts you into your "happy place"
- Calms you down during high stress moments.
Stress relief kits also make great gifts for people in your life that are under a lot of stress or struggle with anxiety. Think of the busy mom you know or your friends with high stress jobs.
Stress relief kits are ideal for anyone since they're meant to lower stress. And we all get stressed at some point.
So what should you put in your stress relief kit?
What to Put in Your Stress Relief Kit
The best thing about stress relief kits is you can personalize them to include things that keep you relaxed. The candle scent that relieves stress for one person might not work for someone else.
But in order to help get you started, we've compiled a list of what we consider the best items to include in a stress relief kit. Particularly if you've never put one together.
Essential Oil
Essential oils have great therapeutic benefits and are a popular source of stress relief.
While a lot of people use diffusers to disperse their essential oils, you can get the same benefits from simply taking a whiff of the oil from the bottle or rubbing it into the palms of your hands and smelling them.
We recommend getting a kit with several scents to find which ones relax you the most. Since the bottles are small, they're portable enough to carry around in a small bag.
Stress Ball
We've written about the benefits of stress balls plenty of times. Squeezing a stress ball is a classic stress relief tactic that has been used for centuries in some fashion.
So it should come as no surprise that we consider it a must-have for your stress relief kit. There are a ton of different options available, but this is one of our favorites.
Stress Cube
You may have seen these on Instagram or YouTube. Stress cubes are gaining popularity because not only do they relieve stress, but they're also pretty fun to play with.
Stress cubes are like the Swiss army knife of stress relief. You get over five different sections to fidget with when you're stressed. Flick click, spin or roll the stress away.
It's a nice little toy to add to your stress relief kit.
A Pen
Specifically, a clickable pen. For many people clicking a pen is soothing and helps relieve tension when you're stressed out.
You might even click pens without even thinking about it when you're stressed. Throw a few into your stress relief kit and click away. Oh yea, and you can also write with them too!
Stress Relief Candle
Scented candles in general can be great for creating a relaxing and soothing atmosphere. But we're particularly fond of this stress relief candle from Bath & Body Works.
It has a soothing and aromatic Eucalyptus Spearmint scent that you'll want around you all the time. Even if you're not using it in your stress relief kit, we highly recommend picking up one of these candles. Thanks us later.
Dark Chocolate
Sweets in your stress relief kit? Seriously?
Yes, we're very serious. Although you should avoid stress eating at all costs, a study published in the Journal of Proteome Research found that eating just 1.4 ounces (40 grams) of dark chocolate a day lowered stress and anxiety levels in highly stressed people. Plus it can also lower your blood pressure.
To be clear, we're talking about dark chocolate, or even cacao. So don't go out and get a bunch of milk chocolate Hershey bars thinking it'll reduce your stress.
Herbal Tea
While some people resort to drinking alcohol when they're stressed out, the smart decision is to reach for a bag of tea instead. Unlike alcohol which will only aggravate your stress, tea can actually slowdown activity of your stress hormones like cortisol.
There are a ton of teas to choose from, but we recommend Oolong tea. In addition to relieving stress, you also get these extra benefits as well:
- Boosts metabolism, resulting in faster weight loss.
- Improves your mental alertness.
- Lowers cholesterol.
- Helps your digestion.
- Stabilizes your blood sugar.
- Strengthens your immune system.
Teabox makes a DELICIOUS Oolong tea packed with flavor and freshness. No flat teas over here.
Affirmation Cards
Sometimes when you're stressed out you just need a few words of inspiration.
But instead of generic and dull affirmations, this box of affirmation cards from comedian Suzi Barrett will give you the dose of positivity with a unique twist.
They're the perfect complement to any stress relief kit.
Put Your Stress Relief Kit Together
These are all the pieces we recommend you put into your stress relief kit. Remember, you can always customize yours to fit your needs. Maybe you like to pop bubble wrap when you're stressed or chew gum. Then you could put those in there as well.
The goal is to personalize the stress reduction kit to fit your needs. Just remember, healthy stress management tools only!
What would you put in your stress relief kit? Leave a comment and let us know!
