Eye-bags and headaches.

Aaaaaaah Sunday. A day of lie-ins, fry ups and relaxation. It's time to kick back with a good book, snuggle up with a film or spend quality time with those you love. Last week I blogged about learning to love the ups and downs of life and making sure you make time to enjoy yourself and get a bit of R&R.

BUT sometimes you might have had a week where you are left feeling a little like this....

I am feeling the pressure from work this week and I have plenty of late evenings to look forward to next week. Parents evening is looming and we still have book moderations and actually teaching and planning inbetween. By the time half term comes round in five days time I will be ready to fall into bed and sleep for the entire week. 

As humans it is inevitable that we are going to feel stressed or down about something at some point in our lives. I am currently feeling a little disheveled, grumpy and most certainly stressy! I've got dry cracked lips, eye-bags to rival a zombie and I definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. So, I decided that I'd like to share with you what I do to combat the stress.

Tea and something sweet

For me, there is nothing better than relaxing with a nice, warm cup of tea. I don't often drink tea at work as I don't sleep well after continuous caffeine fixes throughout the day. Usually my first cup of tea is when I first get home from work when I need to switch off, just for half an hour, from everything that needs doing. On the weekends I like to pair my tea with a few biscuits to dunk or a generous slice of cake (especially if it's home-made, yum!)

Sitcoms

I think I becoming dependent on the various box-sets that are sitting happily on my bookcase. If I need cheering up, a silly one-liner from Big Bang Theory, New Girl or Friends is sure to have me laughing in minutes. I love that 6pm on E4 is fantastically timed with my evening cup of tea too!

Massage

This one is a little trickier because you have to have someone willing to do it for you. Now I don't mean an hour long full-body massage with lots of fancy things. Even though the Body Shop do a lovely range of aromatherapy massage oils. A ten minute shoulder rub can leave you feeling revitalised and 100% relaxed. This morning when I woke up with a banging headache, Ryan massaged a couple of pressure points on my face and it soon disappeared. I'm not sure how he does it but it's better than paracetamol! 

Reading

I know I always go on and on and on about how much I love reading but it is awesome! I've always loved reading and sharing stories. As a teacher I now read a LOT more. I love sharing stories aloud with my class like my Dad used to do with me when I was a kid. It genuinely fills my heart with joy when I hear parents saying how much their child loves a book that I've shared. I bought a Horrible Science space book last weekend for £1.25 from a charity shop... every child in my class had their hand up to borrow it on Monday morning. I finished reading 'Before I go to Sleep' last night; it had a massive twist at the end and I was hooked until the very last page! Reality had to wait. I believe that reading is just good for the mind and soul :)

Candles and Fairy lights

Some people will tell me off for working in my bedroom. Apparantly it's healthier to separate your working space from your relaxing space. However I have created such a cosy atmostphere in my bedroom that I can't help but want to spend time in there. In the evenings I light my gorgeous scented yankee candle, turn on the fairy lights and get cosy under layers of warm blankets. Whether I am reading, watching a film or actually doing some work, it doesn't matter because I just enjoy spending time in here.

Sunday Baths

Over the years I have never ever been a bath person. Tall people will agree that baths are sometimes not the most comfortable of places and the water never gets quite high enough. However, my current flat has the most amazing bath I have ever been in! It's massive and doesn't have an overflow in a ridiculous place. I enjoy my bath so much that Sunday evenings are now dedicated bath times so I am all refreshed for the new working week. For Christmas and my birthday I got loads of Lush bath bombs so Sunday bath time has evolved into a bit of an experiment! I really enjoy trying out all of the different ones and finding out which ones are most exciting :) I did my first ever instagram video of one of my bath bombs. You can watch it on this link - bath bomb video. 

Everyone knows that us humans need time to just stop sometimes. We all make our lives so busy and stress inducing but I suppose we can't help ourselves! Here are another few tips I found for reducing stress that you can try yourself :)