Feeling overwhelmed? You’re not alone. Most parents experience stress regularly, especially in today’s fast-paced world. The good news is that there are simple, effective techniques that can help you feel better and support your children, too.
Recognizing the Signs of Stress
Stress often shows up in the body. You may experience headaches, muscle tension, fatigue, trouble sleeping, or digestive discomfort. Emotionally, it might cause irritability, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, or mood swings. Many people carry tension in their jaw, shoulders, chest, or face. Try checking those areas and intentionally relaxing them right now.
It’s also helpful to understand that your brain is naturally wired to detect threats, which can trigger a stress response. In daily life, that means we often overreact unless we actively work to calm ourselves.
Using Technology to Build Awareness
Several free and low-cost apps can help you become more aware of how stress affects your body and mind:
- Welltory uses heart rate variability (HRV) to track stress and energy levels.
- Samsung Health includes a built-in stress tracker using your phone’s sensors.
- StressFace and Stress Monitor for Watch help Apple Watch users track stress in real time.
- Headspace, Calm, and Pacifica offer guided meditations, mood tracking, and tools for emotional regulation.
These tools can help you identify patterns and begin making intentional changes.
Why Your Stress Affects Your Kids
Children are highly tuned in to their parents’ emotional states. When you're stressed, you may be less present and more reactive. Kids often internalize this, feeling they did something wrong or that they’re not important. Their own cortisol levels rise, which makes it harder for them to concentrate or manage emotions. Cortisol can stay elevated in a child’s body for up to 72 hours, so one argument at home can impact their focus and mood for several days.
Benefits of Stress Reduction
When you reduce your stress, you’re likely to sleep better, feel healthier, and improve your relationships. You may find yourself worrying less and focusing more easily on things that matter like your work, your goals, or your family. Many people also report needing fewer substances like caffeine or alcohol and feeling more satisfied and happy overall. Children benefit, too. You can teach them many of the same strategies and model what it looks like to handle stress in a healthy way.
Common Roadblocks and How to Overcome Them
It’s easy to make excuses for not trying these strategies. You might feel too tired, too busy, or unsure of where to begin. You may expect immediate results and get discouraged when that doesn’t happen. Or you may keep putting it off, waiting for the “right time.”
Recognizing these patterns can help you move past them. Start with just one small step. The techniques below are quick, effective, and free.
Five Methods to Try
- Breathing TechniquesBreathing is one of the fastest ways to calm your nervous system. Try a few and see which ones feel right:
- Double inhale with long exhale: Watch demo
- Bumblebee breathing: Watch demo | Printable instructions
- Box breathing: Try this video
- Voo breathing: Watch guide
- Vagus Nerve StimulationThe vagus nerve helps regulate stress by connecting your brain to many key organs. Stimulating it can bring immediate calm. Try these approaches:
- Gently pull down on your earlobes and make small circular motions at the base of each ear.
- Splash your face with cold water or place a cold pack across your forehead and cheeks.
- Practice a facial massage
- Try a quiet activity like rhythmically rolling a small object between your palms.
Want to learn more? Read more here.
- Tapping (EFT)Tapping on specific pressure points can help lower anxiety and improve emotional balance.
- Noticing GlimmersA “glimmer” is a small moment of connection, joy, or calm — like sunlight on your skin, a smile, or hearing birds outside. These moments may seem minor, but they signal safety to your nervous system.
As you practice noticing glimmers, your brain will start to look for more of them. This strengthens neural pathways related to regulation, calm, and resilience.
- Expressing GratitudeShifting your focus to things you’re grateful for can lower stress and increase contentment. Gratitude doesn’t erase challenges, but it can help you feel more grounded and supported.
Making It a Habit
These methods work best when practiced regularly. Try attaching one to a daily routine such as when you wake up, before going to bed, while driving, or during a lunch break. Some people use index cards to write down their favorite techniques and place them in visible spots like their desk, nightstand, or car. Having a reminder nearby makes it easier to follow through.
Change doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen with practice. Start small, stay consistent, and give yourself grace. The payoff will be less stress, better connection with your family, and more moments of calm in your day.
Listen to a Podcast Episode on Stress Reduction
In Season 3, Episode 1 of the Co-Parenting Conversations podcast, Dr. Gordon joins us to explore simple, effective stress reduction techniques for parents navigating the challenges of co-parenting. From deep breathing and cold water stimulation to tapping (EFT), and the power of "glimmers," this episode offers actionable strategies to help parents stay calm, regulate emotions, and support their families through difficult moments.
More To Discover
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