Experts Agree That Baking Is One of the Best Things You Can Do to Relieve Stress Right Now

I don’t know about you, but even in normal, not particularly chaotic times, I never need to be made more aware of how stressed I am. Stress causes my shoulders to tense up and fuse with my ears, my digestion to get wonky, and according to my boyfriend and kids, I become especially delightful to be around. So yeah, I’m aware, as I’m sure you are when your brain and body feel like they are about to explode by from all you’re managing.

The question is, what can we to do to relieve stress, especially if we’re stuck inside? Because not to stress you out further, but both chronic and acute stress can have negative impacts on our health, and can lead us to engage in less-than-wise escapist habits.

“When we think about the body on stress, it’s really fuel for the fight-or-flight response,” says Debra Kissen, Ph.D., the co-chair of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America’s education committee and co-author of Rewire Your Anxious Brain For Teens. This is helpful when we have to get in gear to, say, lift a car off a small child or flee an axe-wielding horror movie villain. “It’s just that when our brain continues to feel that we’re in danger when we’re not, that stress starts to create all kinds of physical and emotional problems." Add anxiety—dread and worry about what may happen next—and that doesn’t help our stress levels.

But which stress-relief activity will depend on what you’re experiencing it at that moment, says Kissen. Are you climbing out of your skin, or is your mind racing? Do you have physical pain, or are feeling overwhelmed? “Having a toolbox of different techniques ready to go when you realize you’re stressed is really important,” she says.

That’s why we asked the experts for their best stress-relieving activities that you can have at the ready, even if you can’t get outside.