9 Fun and Calming Activities to Relieve Stress

When you ask yourself how to relieve stress quickly and kick some anxiety out of your life, you can try sniffing your partner’s T-shirt. Or put some salt on your tongue (yikes!). Or you can just take a look at the products we’ve prepared for you in this article and add them right into your shopping cart. From bath foam with a lavender scent that will calm your body and mind to toys that relieve stress — all these items have one thing in common: the love of people who have already tried them.

1. A bath foam will wash away all aches, worries, and stress of the day. Pure Epsom salt is gonna relax your muscles and ease pain in your shoulders, neck, back, and scull, while lavender will soothe both your mind and body. There is also a secret ingredient that will bring you more joy — long-lasting BUBBLES you can play with.

Apart from adding fun to your bathing, bubbles are also useful. They help to keep water warm for longer so you can enjoy your alone time in no hurry.

Happy buyer’s review: Wanted some nice bubble bath as I normally shower and have one nice soak a month. My experience is that most bubble bath bubbles and smell disappear within 10 mins. NOT THIS ONE! Bubbles lasted right until the end. Was in the bath for over an hour.
The smell was intense and strong till the end but not overpowering. It was so relaxing that I found myself nodding off in the bath, and when I went to bed, I had a great night’s sleep. Left skin feeling soft as well. Highly recommended. Really looking forward to a bath now! @Matt

Buy the bath foam from Amazon HERE

2. A scalp massager that will show you what a really satisfying massage looks like. Just grab it when stress is knocking on your door or you feel too anxious to relax. It feels so good your eyes are gonna roll in the back of your head! It was designed to perfectly fit the palm & scalp. Its gentle spikes provide even stimulation to the scalp and hair follicles. PLUS, they promote blood circulation.

But that’s not it. This brush is an ABSOLUTE game changer for your shampooing routine. It perfectly replaces fingertip work and allows you to enjoy the cleansing process in full. When used every day, it thoroughly removes the flakes and build-up from the scalp and spreads hair care products deeply, leaving your hair cleaner and fresher.

Happy buyer’s review: Really like this scalp massager; it’s easy to hold and use and easy to clean. Helps me wash my hair and rub the shampoo into my hair easily, so it deep cleans. I use it every time I wash my hair now! Great purchase. @Alisha

Buy the scalp massager from Amazon HERE

3. A neck and shoulder relaxer that will help you wave goodbye to pain. It works so well that your mouth is gonna hang open once you try it, and stress will leave you that very minute. Best for all those constantly-on-my-phone people as well as for those who sit from morning till evening.

HOW TO USE IT:

1. Find a quiet place where you can lie down or sit back for about 10 minutes and where stress isn’t waiting for you. This can be on a bed, sofa, floor, or recliner.
2. Place the neck support of the device around the middle of your neck. Start with gentle traction (convex side under your head).
3. Gently reposition up or down along your spine to find the most comfortable position for your neck. Bend your knees and put your hand beside your head.
4. Once comfortable, allow your neck to settle further into the support. Taking slow deep breaths helps to relax.
5. Take notice of how the support is reinforcing your posture. You may observe at this point that you are releasing tension.
6. You may notice your neck, traps, and shoulder muscles relax further and your posture becomes more aligned.
7. Reposition lightly every few minutes to prevent localized fatigue. You may re-assume your position if needed.
8. Like any new exercise, start slowly. Use the gentle support level for 5 minutes then reassess whether or not you can use it for an additional 5 minutes. Progress gradually as you are comfortable.
9. If you feel you can use more neck support, use the strong traction neck support (concave side under your head).
10. NOTE: At first, you may feel slight discomfort as your muscles and joints adjust to their new positions. If you feel pain, discontinue using the device and consult with your healthcare professional.

This product is waterproof. If there is a smell, simply use warm water with liquid soap or any sanitizer commonly used in the home or healthcare setting, and place it in a well-ventilated area for 24–48 hours.

Some insomniacs send their “yays” to the product:

Happy buyer’s review: Wow. You know, you see these things, and most of the time, they do nothing! In the past, I’ve bought an inflatable neck thing, pokey stickies for pressure points and knots, roller ball things, and electric neck and back massagers. Several pillows all over the years. A yoga wheel to arch back on to decompress my neck. I’ve had migraines for years. I can virtually NEVER get comfy in bed with my neck until I bought this a few days ago! I lay down and instantly it was soooooooo relaxing. Soooo pain relieving. I slept fine that night and last night too and had less pain during the day. I was really begrudgingly spending £25 on a piece of foam, but it was (for me) definitely worth it. @Catwoman77

Buy the relaxer from Amazon HERE

4. A mini Zen garden that will help you turn your anxiety into a relaxing activity. It’s great for short escapes from reality and daily stress because while you dig, trim, and take care of your garden, you become more mindful and can live your moment to the fullest.

Practiced for more than 2000 years, Japanese gardening is meant to bring calmness, and wash away the stress by focusing on a landscape. It’s designed around 6 aesthetic principles that harness the beauty and power of nature, Zen gardens are meant to help those who wander through them forget the hectic world outside.

While it seems not very possible to create your personal Zen garden, you can try a mini-version. You can use it a home or bring it to your office to meditate during breaks.

Happy buyer’s review: It is super cute, and pretty good quality for the price. Have received many compliments and everybody’s tempted to rake the sand. It is so great I had to buy another one to gift. @Ray

Buy the mini Zen garden from Amazon HERE

5. A set of affirmation cards that will help you help yourself. This is an inspirational but not-too-cheesy gift for yourself or anyone seeking a little bit of self-care and trying to get rid of everyday stress. Just check this one out: “I trust that everything will be okay in the end. Partly because I simply know it in my gut, but also because it’s way more fun to live with trust and confidence than to be a defensive wiener.”

Unlock the power of the universe (kind of) with Affirmators! for everyone.

SELF-LOVE

I openly embrace a feeling of self-love (the PG kind). I love myself because I understand myself. I love myself as the most committed partner I’ll ever have. I show myself love any way that I can, and when I screw up I remember to be sweet and gentle with myself. If not, I’m gonna make myself sleep on the couch. Got that, Self?

Happy buyer’s review: If you are wondering whether or not to get this deck, I say yes! Go ahead and buy them. If you like this type of thing, then you will be glad to get this deck. These are fun cards. They are inspiring. They are cute. They make you think positively. They make great gifts. I got a deck for a friend as a birthday present, and I got a deck for myself. They are well made and should last a very long time. They feel like quality. The cards are also kid-friendly in my opinion; at least I haven’t read anything on them yet that I would not share with the kids I know. The cards are for adults and teenagers, though — anyone who can grasp the concepts of self-esteem and talking to yourself in a positive and loving way. I think I will also eventually get some of the other decks this author has made. The price is nice too. @Jai

Buy the set from Amazon HERE

6. A fun paper voodoo that will let you release your emotion in the most ecological way and bring much-needed stress relief. By the way, you can always draw white pins only for blessings. If a person did something bad to you, wish him or her good luck and let it go.

You can also find other great note pads from this brand that will help you leave stress out:

• What I Love About You Today: Share your fuzzy-wuzzy feelings the easy-peasy way: by checking a box and scribbling a word or two.
• Mother’s Little Helper: This useful pad helps moms plan their day and decide which of many hats they’re going to wear; and, most importantly, it offers a space to list all the things they could actually do for themselves.
• What I Ate: As you enter the details of your weekly menu, you’ll keep your meal and nutrition goals in sight. Contains checkboxes for ensuring your hydration, too.
• Don’t Kill the Kids and Other Babysitter Basics: Armed with this pad, your babysitter will be prepared for anything from sugar-snack lies to bedtime manipulation — and you’ll enjoy a relaxing parents’ night out.
  

Happy buyer’s review: I love these things, but I did a very dumb thing: I fell in love the minute I saw them, and I impulse-bought them, and now I think I maybe should not have (especially since I ordered 2 of some of them in my blind buyer lust). Nothing wrong with the product though, except maybe just a little TOO attractive? @Andrew

Buy the fun note pad from Amazon HERE

7. A cube that is perfect for nervous people with restless fingers. It’ll help you relieve stress by offering you 6 different sides you can press, rotate, click, roll, and slide.

By the way, fidgeting is our natural response to anxiety and stress. If you’re anxious, your body will prepare your muscles for a “fight or flight” response as the stress hormones boil inside. But if you don’t have any tigers that make you run away immediately, all that energy can’t disappear just like that, and jiggling your leg, biting your nails, or tapping the table is a way to partially relieve that.

Happy buyer’s review: Great product! Every day I find a new way how to play with it. @Emir Ademovic

Buy the cube from Amazon HERE

8. The Big Activity Book for Anxious People, which is part journal, part coloring book, part weird mechanisms for coping with stress, and part compendium of soothing facts, will be an outlet for anyone who wants to take a break from reality, laugh through their fears, and realize with every page that they’re not alone. Plus, it’ll help you figure out what to do when it’s 3 AM and you’re wide awake worrying about whether you cc’ed the right Bob on that email. (Probably.)

On a bad day, try coloring in the soothing grandma. On a REALLY bad day full of stress, find step-by-step instructions on how to build an underground bunker.

Other stress relief activities include:

• Fun facts about aging
• Public speaking: a diagram
• Your hotel room carpet: a Petri dish of horrors
• Obscure diseases you probably don’t have
• Zen mantras for the anxiously inclined
• Soothing facts about hand sanitizer

Happy buyer’s review: I. LOVE. THIS. BOOK. It has become part of my daily routine. Some pages have activities such as crosswords or mazes. Others have coloring activities. Others have text. Because I enjoy coloring, when I read the pages that have just text, I color random designs on top of the text while repeating the calming information to myself. For instance, on the page about how safe airplanes are (which has literally reduced my anxiety about flying in planes), I drew circling colors. As someone with heavy experience with clinical treatment for anxiety, I know that the info they provide is essentially the truth with a funny twist. The book really does make me laugh and reduce my anxiety a bit. I relate to sooooo much of what they talk about — the things I think about at 3 am when I’m trying to sleep, the reasons that receiving letters in the mail is stressful, worries about getting old, types of therapy I’ve tried... So much. As my therapist tells me, “Information reduces anxiety,” and speaking feelings usually reduces them. This book “speaks” worries that I experience regularly, so I don’t feel so trapped in my head with them, and it gives me information that either makes me laugh or reduces my anxiety. Pretty amazing. I recommend this to every single person with anxiety who enjoys working with paper. @MBM

Buy the book from Amazon HERE

9. A legendary Magic Ball that will help you out if you aren’t in the mood to make a decision and feel very anxious about it. It features 10 positive, negative, and neutral answers. All you have to do is to ask a question, turn over the magic ball, and check the answer. Yes, it’s that simple. And... don’t let anyone say that you allow the Magic Ball to decide for you. Because when you turn it over, you already know the answer you wanna get, right? Free of stress.

Thy only difference from THAT ball we all remember is its size. It got smaller and handier. You can take it anywhere with you and ask any number of questions you want.

Happy buyer’s review: I’m having a blast with this miniature Magic 8 Ball. It sits on the table by my recliner for easy access. With it, I’m now free of the majority of the decision-making in my life, which relieves me of any stress, anxiety, or uncertainty that might come over me at any moment. I no longer have to take any responsibility for my actions; I can just blame the 8 Ball. It fits easily into almost any sized pocket, so, if I’m going out, I can take it along and let it play the same role in my life. This ability to take my new decision-maker with me in a smaller form is great! It’s a nice return to my childhood, inexpensive, and a much-needed reprieve from the stress of our contemporary society. Everyone should have one and have some light-hearted fun! @ALW

Buy the Magic Ball from Amazon HERE

What is your go-to hack for when you’re under stress?

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