Finding Your Quiet Space

Stress. It surrounds you at work and at home. Most likely you know what stresses you — the deadlines at work, paying the mortgage, the driver that cut you off on the highway, picking the kids up on time, or figuring out what’s for dinner. Most of us, however, aren’t aware of how our reactions to this stress can cause physical and emotional distress to ourselves and those around us.

Stress is a good news/bad news story. The bad news first. Stress affects everyone including children and adults, and unfortunately it isn’t going away. The good news, however, is that you can learn to manage it.

One method of managing stress is by creating a quiet space, a place that you can visit when you need to relax from your day. Below are a few tips to get you started on creating your quiet space.

• Find the space — Your quiet space does not have to be an entire room. Find a corner of a room and call that “yours.” Dress it up to include your candles, favorite plants, photos, pillows or chair, books and magazines. Anything to make this special, quiet and calm. A retreat to come home to.
• Aromatherapy — Did you know certain fragrances have an effect on your mood? For stress relief try scents like lavender, jasmine, chamomile, rose, ylang ylang, or patchouli. You can purchase these scents in a variety of forms including incenses, essential oils, lotions, bath salts or candles.
• Choose colors carefully — Blues, greens and violets are best for soothing spaces. These are the colors of ocean vistas and nature. They elicit feelings of peace, tranquility and relaxation
• Light candles — Turning the lights low and lighting your candles can help you forget about the bright lights of the office.
• Add Music — Find sounds that soothe you — from ocean waves to sounds of nature to bells chiming — choose the sounds that will help you relax. Another way to add sound without the stereo — purchase a small water fountain/rock garden. The sounds of water trickling over the rocks will surely put you into deep relaxation.

I recently created a quiet space of my own. In it I have my favorite chair, pictures, plants and books. It’s a place where I can go “to get away from it all” even though it’s in my house! The space is only to be used for quiet time — whether meditating, writing or reading. When I walk in this space my mind and body automatically begin to relax.

Create this space with intention. Think about what makes you happy, comfortable and relaxed. Make the space comfortable and most importantly have fun with it!

— Stacey Shipman, M.Ed, Wellness Facilitator