6 Black Women Share Stress Relief Tips & Tricks That Really Work

April is Stress Awareness Month and if there’s one thing that Black women deal with a lot of, it’s stress! However, it’s one thing to be aware that you’re stressed but how you deal with that stress could be causing you more stress or making you unhealthy.

For instance, many people find comfort in food and do what is called stress eating. That’s not a good thing.

I smoke weed…a lot! Smoking is not the best habit but it’s no secret that marijuana has great medicinal value.

The six ladies below will share with you how playing video games, using discount apps to shop, gardening, screaming, meditation, investing in an online interactive course, and much more can help melt the stress away!

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Tianna Manon – Open Mic

My name Is Tianna Mañón. I’m the Editor in Chief of Open Mic Rochester in Rochester NY.  We did a huge campaign surrounding Black women and stress with a CA-based organization and I learned so many things that shifted my approach to de-stress.  

Stress is dangerous; it can literally kill you. And even if it doesn’t, it can warp you, your relationships and your outlook on life. I work in media and am constantly worried about making a mistake and how others perceive my work. If I’m not careful, I end up taking that stress home with me. So how do I get rid of it? A couple of different ways:

• I recognize that my home is my slice of paradise. It’s the only place I have complete control—and that includes over my attitude. My dogs meet at the front door and I have pieces of art facing the door that make me happy. Sometimes joy is revolutionary in itself so I create that haven. If that doesn’t work…

• I plant something new. I’m an avid gardener and I always have seeds lying around. So when I have a really bad day, sometimes I germinate or plant those seeds. Of course, I pick seeds that work for whatever season I’m in. It reminds that something good can always come out of a bad day and that you can be responsible for that good. In a few months, I always have a new flower, herbs or veggies that I can enjoy and almost never even remember the thing that made me angry to begin with.

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Tomika Bryant – Life In Pumps

• Scream it out…even if you need a pillow, don’t hold a drop of it in.  
• Something childish and silly.  Find a jungle gym in your neighborhood and just go for a swing.  Let your childish self back into your life.
• Exercise. To the point of exhaustion.  If after your session you are not laying out on the floor or theground, you aren’t done yet (and that can include sex)

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Bridgitte Jackson-Buckley – The Gift Of Crisis

In 2005, during a disturbing turn of events, my husband was hospitalized due to the onset of symptoms for a stroke. He was 33. In every way imaginable we were unprepared to deal with the long term effects of the challenges that lie ahead.

The financial distress, parental responsibility, unexamined emotional wounds, blame, resentment, fear, and anger unearthed elements of our psyche that nearly destroyed us and our marriage.

The loss of his ability to work propelled us into the beginning stage of what became the most prolonged and difficult period of our lives. For the next several years, we experienced the devastating loss of our home through foreclosure, ruptured familial relationships, job loss and a steady decline of our marriage.

It wasn’t until I turned to meditation, prayer and journaling to make it through each day and began sincere self-examination, that I was ready to understand the circumstances provided an invitation for growth.

For more than a year, I sat down in a meditative state and recorded the guidance that came through in my journal. The guidance I received, however, were not the answers I wanted. My posed questions and concerns were continual attempts to address the immediate unfavorable conditions which surrounded me.

The guidance, however, provided the larger context of what was happening in my life and the higher messages that sought to make themselves known. Meditation grew to become the most practical, accessible and effective way I found to calm myself of the anxiety-ridden thoughts that propelled me.

Let’s be clear, meditation did not immediately remove any situation from my life.  It’s not a quick fix. What it did was help me establish, and strengthen my practice as a way to move through the conundrum of situational difficulties with greater ease, trust, gratitude and a sense of growing empowerment.

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https://dangerouslee.biz/black-womens-history-month/

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Aleasa Word – Compassion For Anaphylaxis

I’m Aleasa Word. Single mom, 2 kids at home, trying to make ends meet on my own.  Both are teens so we are facing sweet 16, an 18th birthday and graduation!

Right now, what causes me stress are graduation costs for my son and healthcare costs for all of us because I have high deductible insurance.

I get by using discount apps like Vipon to get stuff cheaper. Small amounts add up. I also sell stuff on OfferUp, use grocery store apps and volunteer for things that will earn us free stuff so I can save money.

It’s tough but we do it, and for haircare stuff, I will cut open a tube or scrape a jar for the last drop of stuff. It’s all for a good cause…my kids! 

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Rachel Howzell Hall

I’m a novelist that still works a full-time job, a mom to a 15-year old, and a wife. My mind is churning All. The. Time. with soccer schedules, dinner, and laundry crawling up the walls.

With all the reports I have to write, meetings to attend, and story ideas like; how do I murder someone on the page in a more interesting way? Back in the day, reading was my way to deal with stress. Disappearing into another world created by King or Lehane or Macmillan or Mosley.

Games where I can power-up armor and discover new settlements. Yeah, I de-stress with games like Fallout 4 and Skyrim and lose myself in a story that I couldn’t write.

Since becoming a writer, though, I’m reading to look at craft and tricks. So, I disappear into a virtual world – video games. The big games with massive worlds where I wander around and shoot things and find cache filled with currency and ammo.

If there’s a glass of red wine and a bowl of salty, buttery popcorn on my lap? Even better. Just leave me alone with my game controller for a few hours and I’m good.

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Maria Dowd – My Amazing LYFE

Maria Dowd, founder of African American Women on Tour, aims to help change the lives of women around the world with the creation My Amazing LYFE.

This interactive online course provides access to products, tools, and resources carefully crafted to guide your journey to self-discovery and transformation.

My Amazing LYFE stands to help women “Live. Your. Freedom. Every Day!” (LYFE). The eCourse includes 15 sections broken up to provide a holistic approach to healing and self-improvement.

Packed with videos, inspirational messages, and daily activities and challenges, My Amazing LYFE offers a colorful and vivid approach to life coaching.

In her efforts, Dowd focuses on providing women with the tools for continuing their growth rather than just preaching steps to a method of success.

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