How do I manage my entrepreneurial stress naturally?

As every single entrepreneur, I unfortunately spend most of my time stressed. If you run your own business or work on your side hustle, I guess you relate to that statement.

I am an anxious person, so I was used to being stress. Stuck in that physical and mental states since childhood (yes, it started THAT early for me), I had just embraced it. But a few months ago, I realized it has much more impacts on my daily life than I thought. Not only it causes me hormonal acne and headaches but this constant flow of thoughts going through my mind forbids me to enjoy my time off.

This realization marked the beginning of my new quest: finding natural means to fight my stress and to keep it under control. Or at least I try. Here are a few tips that I found out were working for me and I hope it can also help many of you. Keep reading if you want to give it a chance.

I use essential oils…

In a diffuser

They are a good prevention to avoid stress. Some of them have a relaxing effect while others uplift your mood. I let you go through this article to discover how you can use essential oils to create a relaxing atmosphere. My favourite is lavender essential oil because it is very versatile. For instance, it is great for healing your skin or strengthening your hair. I suggest you buy this one as a priority if you are interested in aromatherapy. To relax, I usually use a few drops that I add to water in my diffuser. It also smells delicious, perfect combo!

And locally

I work 9 to 5 and manage Attitude Organic on the side so my days are packed most of the time. As a result, sometimes I sleep around six hours and my body reminds to me that it is not enough. It causes me headaches!

As I try to adopt a more natural lifestyle for my health and for sustainable reasons, I prefer avoiding pills. After researching some natural alternatives, I came up with a remedy that is efficient for me: peppermint essential oil. I love the smell and if I diagnose my headaches early enough, a few drops of that oil sort me out. Use about 3 drops on the inside of your wrist, warm it up, massage lightly on your temples and on your neck. Be careful though, do not put too much and do not apply too close to your eyes because it could cause an irritation and burn your eyes. In that article, I give a few other ideas that you can experiment if peppermint does not relieve you.

I meditate

As I am anxious, my brain never stops thinking and if I work late at night, my thoughts do not let me sleep. This is where meditation is miraculous. Every night before I go to bed, I put my phone away, start calming down by reading for at least thirty minutes and make sure that I dedicate time to my meditation session. I like them guided so I use apps such as Insight timer and headspace, which I highly recommend.

I started visualisation

My stress often appears early morning when I start thinking about Attitude Organic. Even though that ethical marketplace and sustainable community is my baby, sometimes it is too much for me to handle. Imposter syndrome hello… Starting the day with a stress pick is terrible for your mood and your health so I decided to postpone my thoughts for at least one hour. I stick to my morning routine, keep my phone away for at least 30 minutes and start my day slowly with what makes me happy.

I started visualisation to fight the negative vibes that come to my mind when I think about my business. Here is how I proceed: I take ten minutes during my routine to focus on how happy I am to work on that project I love. I picture my daily tasks and how delighted I am to accomplish them. I try to feel how joyful it makes me. According to some research visualising trains your brain to make the things happen. So, if you train your brain to feel happy and relaxed about your job or your side hustle, it will be. It is still new to me but so far it felt good and I start my day in a much more positive mindset. 

I run

I love exercising at the end of my day as a psychologic sign that working is over. It helps me emptying my brain by exhausting my body. My favourite activity is running because I noticed that it is the one that helps me turning off my brain the faster. I know that many researches encourage exercising first thing in the morning, but it never felt right to me. I prefer keeping it as a break between my working time and my me-time, when my schedules allow it.

I practice yoga

I do not find time or motivation to go for a run every day. I also believe that if you are not a trained runner, you should not push yourself daily and stress your body because you could get injured. Therefore, I also do yoga. Ok, I loooove yoga for many other reasons but I find running and yoga being the perfect combination for me. You can practice either in a studio if you have the time and money or do it at home with apps. You can get a few recommendations of yoga apps on my blog.

I breathe a lot

I do not know if happens to you often, but it does to me: I suddenly get overwhelmed by my to do list which makes me panic and under productive. I notice that breathing exercises help to stop that drama. I close my eyes, take three deep breathes to start. Then I imagine all that stress in red within my body. Each time I take a deep breath, the red is aspired by the top of my head. Next, I hold my breath until I cannot anymore and I finally breath out very loud. I do this until I cannot see red in my body at all and I am relieved. If you are not used to visualisation, I might seem crazy, but I promise it does help me so maybe give it a chance.

Guest post written by Marine Leclerc, Founder of Attitude Organic