I’m running in a million different directions right now — I’m teaching my first law school class at Lewis and Clark, working part-time in the utility biz, doing outreach for the Honoring Our Rivers student anthology (19 days left for entries!), finishing up copyedits for Rules of Negotiation, and planning my promotion schedule for the March launch of The Talents and the April (long-awaited!) launch of The Marked. Needless to say, I’m a teenie-weenie bit overextended. So, of course, I reached out to social media. :-) I asked my Facebook friends for suggestions for quick stress relief activities, and I got GREAT responses

Now, I know I’m not the only one who occasionally takes on a bit too much, so thought I should pass these along. If you have other ideas, please let me know! My goal is to get through this all without my brain exploding, and I figure I can use all the help I can get. :-)

From Jess (a yoga instructor!), I got a great suggestion for breath work: ‎”4-7-8 breath is my fave. Inhale for the count of 4, hold for 7, and exhale through the mouth for 8. Stay relaxed when you hold for 7, and imagine releasing stress when you exhale.”

Dear friend (and bride to be) Sarah suggests: “Cat in the lap.”

From Marianne, my lake buddy: “our dentist has a huge fish tank in the lobby, aside from the irony of going to the dentist’s to relax, watching fish is always nice!” (Thanks for reminding me that I’m way behind on my teeth cleaning, BTW!)

YA Bad-Ass Jen Violi (2012 Oregon Book Award Nominee!) suggests: “Put on your favorite dance music (or just play it in your head) and shake it all out–whole body, top to bottom.”

Susan Gee Heino, fabulous Regency author (on whom I have a huge crush, but don’t tell her I said that) has great advice: “Schedule a couple naps. Sometimes just knowing that you have time and permission to shut down for a bit makes the stressful times easier to take.”

I got lots more great suggestions, including dog-walking (yes!), drinking (of course), comfort food & sweets (which, of course, I was already doing), and yoga. I loved them all!

I hope these are useful — please share in the comments if you have other ideas for me, or the rest of the world. I think we can all use it!

(and now I’m going to walk the dog while drinking something sweet, breathing deeply, and thinking about fish.)