Stress is your psychological or physiological response to situations that you find overwhelming. It is an evitable part of life that is almost impossible to fully remove, and even positive situations such as moving house or getting married can be sources of great stress.

It is important to find strategies and products for stress relief that help you to cope better with ongoing stress.

This list of stress relievers for adults provides options for you to consider that may positively impact your overall well-being.

Weighted Blankets

One of the more popular products for stress relief in recent years, weighted blankets can help to calm you down by activating your parasympathetic nervous system. This lowers your heart rate when you’re feeling stressed and provides “pressure therapy”, similar to the feeling of being held, hugged, or swaddled. Weighted blankets can be helpful to those with anxiety, sleep disorders, ADHD, or autism.

Adult Coloring Books

No longer only for kids, the benefits of coloring books are earning them credibility as stress relievers for adults. When used as products for stress relief, coloring books can help you to creatively channel anxiety. A simple act like coloring helps to direct focus into the present, subsequently calming the mind and relaxing the body. Engaging in hobbies such as knitting or putting together puzzles works in the same way.

Aromatherapy Diffusers

The olfactory system – responsible for your sense of smell – is a powerful tool for influencing the nervous system. Thanks to the powerful mood-enhancing effects of essential oils, aromatherapy diffusers double up as products for stress relief as well as an easy way to add beautiful aromas to your home. Aromatherapy recruits essential oils in different modalities for their therapeutic benefits. When inhaled, scent molecules within essential oils travel into the amygdala – the brain’s emotional center – from olfactory nerves. Essential oils such as chamomile, lemongrass, lavender, and bergamot may help you to relax and reduce stress.

Essential Oil Rollers

If you want to recruit the benefits of essential oils but don’t have access to a diffuser, essential oil rollers make excellent portable products for stress relief. Rollers containing essential oil blends can be applied to the back of the neck, earlobes, temples, or wrists, to help ease tension and stress.

Epsom Salts

Magnesium is an important mineral that helps to produce mood-elevating serotonin in the brain. Replenishing depleted levels of magnesium in the body can help create feelings of relaxation and calm. Epsom salts are often used as products for stress relief thanks to their high magnesium content.

Fidget Toys

If you battle to sit still when nervous or stressed, particularly when you’re required to be stationary, such as in Zoom meeting, you may benefit from a fidget toy. No longer only for children, fidget toys are proving themselves effective as stress relievers for adults. All generating pleasant but purposeless/mindless activity with the hands (think of clicking a pen or squeezing a stress ball), these toys can help to calm you when your mind is stressed.

Journaling

Forming a writing habit either daily or when you need to express emotions can help you process worrying thoughts and reduce stress. Some people find it helpful to “mind dump” before bed, writing down anything that may be concerning you about the next day or future.

Herbal Teas

Herbal teas that are free from caffeine are widely regarded as effective products for stress relief. Ingredients such as valerian root, passion flower, chamomile, or lemon balm are known for their calming properties while sipping on tea can also help regulate the breath.

Cooling Masks

Some people may feel as if they’re overheating when stressed, or their tension may induce headaches. If you experience these sensations, a cooling mask can help you unwind, as well as soothe tired eyes.

Meditation Apps

If you frequently experience restlessness, rumination, or racing thoughts, you may find meditation apps to be one of the more effective products for stress relief. Amongst its many benefits, including improving immune function and slowing mental aging, meditation can help quieten your mind and lower stress.

Massager Tools

Often only considered as a luxury activity, different types of massage can also relieve tension in tight muscles and reduce levels of cortisol in the body. Different massage products for stress relief may appeal to you more, such as headscratchers, spiky massage balls to use against your own body resistance, massage guns with multiple vibrating rollers for a more powerful massage or foam rollers to loosen tense muscles all over the body, including the lower back and tight hip areas.

Stress Gummies

There are a number of supplements that have been designed to assist with stress relief, including palatable stress gummies. Featuring different combinations of calming ingredients such as hawthorn, l-theanine, ashwaghanda, and GABA, gummies are an easy form of stress reliever for adults as well as kids.

Ongoing stress can interfere with both your physical and mental well-being. Take time to address your symptoms, uncover the root causes of your stress, and find strategies to manage it effectively.