You could book a pricey wellness getaway to chase tranquility. Or you can borrow a few techniques from relaxation specialists and bring that calm into your everyday life. You don’t have to spend money to work toward a less stressful existence.
We spoke with two wellness professionals from Miraval Arizona Resort and Spa in Tucson, Arizona, about easy, everyday habits that can ease stress and boost emotional wellbeing. Staying present, maintaining balance, and steering clear of stressors are among the practical strategies they recommended.
Jess Holzworth is a spiritual life coach and an instructor of yoga, meditation, and breathwork. Carolyn Fike teaches applied meditation and how to weave the seven chakras into practice.
Below are their 10 suggestions for nurturing a lower-stress life without opening your wallet.
1. Practice Gratitude for Better Mental Health
With so many personal and societal worries around us, it helps to pause and acknowledge what’s good in life.
“When we linger in negativity, our world feels confined. In contrast, a grateful mindset fosters a sense of connection, which is a powerful human experience,” Holzworth said.
Think about the ordinary physical functions and conveniences you might overlook: your heart beating, being able to walk, running water, a working toilet. These are all worth appreciating.
Focusing on small positives is a form of stress relief that can “lighten your heart,” Holzworth noted. “It produces both bodily and mental benefits across your whole being.”
2. Stay Present Through Mindfulness
Mindfulness means being attentive to your environment and experience so you can move closer to a calmer state. Worrying about a long to-do list or dwelling on an unchangeable past doesn’t help — it tends to create stress and can elevate blood pressure.
So small practices that root you in the present can support mental wellbeing and lower stress.
And the good news? You don’t need to add another task to your schedule. “It’s simply about bringing full presence to whatever you’re doing, wherever you are, and however you feel,” Holzworth said.
“Scattering a few seconds of full attention across your day builds your capacity to feel more of your emotions and, as a result, feel more alive.”
3. Add Mindful Micropractices to Your Routine
Small experiences can bring comfort and pleasure — if we truly notice them. Both experts recommend “micropractices of mindfulness,” meaning being fully present during ordinary daily acts.
What does that look like? They used morning coffee as a relatable example.
You can transform a habitual coffee ritual into a mindful micropractice, Fike suggested, by “pausing to feel gratitude instead of moving through the autopilot routine we often fall into.”
- Smell the coffee grounds.
- Listen to the sound of brewing coffee pouring into your cup.
- Feel the warmth of the cup in your hands.
- Inhale the steam and aroma as you lift it to your lips.
- Savor the flavor and warmth as it moves through your mouth and throat.
That brief focus can restore a sense of control and ease stress, and you can apply the same idea to almost any simple action.
“Open yourself to the little things — the taste of coffee. It’s not only the big moments; small comforts bring joy,” Holzworth said. “Maybe it’s the feel of your cat’s fur or the vibration of his purr.”
They encourage spotting short opportunities for mindfulness throughout the day: the warmth of towels fresh from the dryer, the sensation of warm water in the shower, or the repetitive pleasure of folding laundry.
“Anything can be done mindfully,” Fike said.
“Be present,” Holzworth added. “Life is a gift and deserves to be honored.”
4. Turn the Commute Into Calm Time
Fike noted that even your journey to work, school, or errands can be an opportunity for mindfulness instead of stress.
How can commuting lower stress? Try these two ideas:
- Listen to something you enjoy to make the ride less tense.
- When you pause at a light or stop sign, look around. Notice things you might normally miss — a shop, a café, or a pretty tree. “Some people imagine Buddha winking at them when the light turns red,” Fike said.
The point is to shift attention “toward something pleasant rather than irritating,” Fike said.
Think of these pauses as tiny reminders: reminders of impermanence, prompts to be mindful, cues not to take inconveniences personally. They’re all invitations to slow down.
5. Tune Into Your Senses
“Anything that engages the senses draws you into the present moment,” Holzworth said.
That could be watching a sunrise or sunset, smelling flowers, hearing waves, or tasting a delicious bite.
“How often do you actually breathe in your meal? Slow down and chew. Chewing mindfully changes how food tastes,” Fike said. “If you’re eating anyway, why not do it with attention?”
6. Use Laughter as Stress Relief
Why does a baby’s giggle instantly lift our mood?
First, because we noticed it — that’s a moment of mindfulness, Holzworth said.
Then, because we often laugh in response. “Even our own laughter is a mindful moment.”
Laughter interrupts the analytical, planning part of the brain and engages intuition, creativity, and insight. “When we laugh, we drop our guard a bit. It’s a genuine release. Laughter is excellent for health.”
If a quiet giggle helps, imagine what a full belly laugh could do to lower blood pressure and ease tension.
7. Use Breathwork to Calm Yourself
Breathing sustains life — and it can also soothe stress.
Holzworth explained that the nervous system has sympathetic and parasympathetic branches that govern involuntary body functions. The sympathetic branch readies the body for stress (fight or flight). The parasympathetic branch supports rest and restoration (rest and digest).
“Many people today tend to live in sympathetic overdrive,” Holzworth said. “They exist in a chronic fight-or-flight mode.”
That’s why fostering parasympathetic moments — times of relaxation and restoration — matters.
Your breath is a potent regulator. Taking several deep breaths stimulates the vagus nerve and signals your brain to relax, she said. “Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and I promise you’ll feel better.”
8. Discover a Meditation Style That Suits You
Meditation looks different for everyone. Fike said silent meditation didn’t click for her initially, so she turned to guided practices to ease stress.
Mindfulness and meditation overlap but aren’t identical: mindfulness is broad awareness woven into life, while meditation is often a dedicated span of time focused on practice.
Many apps and online videos teach basics, lead short meditations, and offer varied exercises.
As you experiment, Fike advised finding a guide whose voice resonates with you. If you don’t like the voice, you won’t engage with the guidance.
Most guided meditations include breath awareness and body scans that draw attention to sensations from toes to the crown of your head.
There are also walking meditations and practices tied to simple daily tasks.
You can meditate anywhere you are, Fike said — even while moving from the couch to another room.
“Focus on how your feet move, how they connect with the floor, how bones, tendons, and muscles coordinate as you step. It’s a pause to notice something you’d usually ignore.”
9. Unplug From Screens to Reset
Phones and other gadgets are nearly always at hand, but setting them aside even briefly can help you be present and avoid stress triggers.
Fike suggests not allowing devices to dominate your attention, especially during conversations. Most messages or alerts don’t need an instant reply.
Your blood pressure and stress hormones will benefit if you put the phone down now and then.
10. Don’t Make De-stressing Another Source of Stress
Fike and Holzworth emphasized that becoming less stressed isn’t about overhauling your life or piling on new obligations. It’s about integrating small adjustments into what you already do.
Fike shared that her mindfulness and meditation practices show how life can slow and stress can be countered without dramatic measures.
“I’m not meditating on a mountaintop in a lotus pose for hours,” she said. “I’m an ordinary person with everyday problems. I bring real-life experience to people who are living real lives.”
If you expect a stress-free life to require a total transformation, you’ll likely feel overwhelmed. Instead, start noticing self-created stress patterns.
“It’s simply about bringing more awareness to how you exist and how you relate to yourself and the world,” Holzworth said.
Riley Morgan is a Florida-based freelance reporter with over 25 years of experience covering finance, health, travel and related topics.
