1. Take a Relaxing Walk: Go for a relaxing 15 minute walk, preferably outside in the sun.

2. Drink Green Tea: has less caffeine than coffee, lots of antioxidants, and L-Theanine which is a natural calming agent.

3. Listen to Your Favorite Song: or you can have a playlist of songs that help relax you.

4. Take 10 Deep Breaths: ideally close your eyes, breath through your nose and out of your mouth, and breath all the way into your belly.  This is called belly breathing or diaphragm breathing and it is quite calming.

5. Go Barefoot: many people’s shoes are actually a source of stress because they are poorly designed.  When possible, go barefoot.  Taking a walk on some grass while barefoot is a great recipe for stress reduction.

6. Practice some relaxing exercise: Tai Chi or Yoga can be very relaxing if done correctly.  Finding a class or maybe buying a dvd and doing 15 minutes 3x per week would give great results.

7. Pet/Cuddle Your Animals: Pets (Dogs in particular) are great stress reducers.  If you don’t have a pet you should get one.  If you have one, play with them and spend time petting them.  This alone does wonders for reducing both stress and blood pressure.  If you need to, borrow someone else’s pet.

8. Read a Book: reading something can be quite relaxing, provided you select the right thing to read.  Email = bad; Fiction = good; Facebook = bad; Rereading love letters = good. Read something that makes you feel good.

9. Fill Out Your Grateful Log: Fill out 5-10 items that follow this formula: “I am grateful for…” It could be ANYTHING you’re actually grateful for.  This works particularly well before bed, but can also be great to do throughout the day.

10. Answer These 3 Questions: First, “What have I learned today?” Second, “What did someone do that was nice to me?” Third,  ”What have I done for someone today?”

11. Do Something Good for Someone Else. 

12. Take a Nap: Even just resting your head and closing your eyes for 5 minutes can do wonders.  You don’t have to actually get to sleep.

13. Clean: sometimes our environment is a source of stress.  Clean your car, your office, your home.  Making your environment less cluttered is a big stress reducer for some.  It also increases productivity.

14. Watch Something Funny: Laughing reduces stress.  Find your favorite comedian on YouTube, watch your favorite comedy movie, whatever makes you laugh.

15. Get control of something in your life: This can be anything that is standing in your way.  Maybe rewriting your task list, finishing that big project, talking to that person, whatever.  Get past something you should have gotten past weeks ago.

16. Get Away From Electronics: turn off the cell-phone, iPad, computer, TV and whatever else you can.  Electronic devices, especially the communication devices can be a major source of stress both from email, text messages, phone calls, etc and from the electromagnetic pollution they produce.

A good idea is to start with two or three of these and add more as you go.  Many of these could also be combined, for example: you can go for a 15 minute walk outside in the sun, barefoot on the grass, and leave your cell-phone in your house or put it in airplane mode while listening to your favorite song.  Then you could follow that with a 15 minute nap.  That’s be a great way to spend 30 minutes.  Enjoy.