Ways to Relax When You’re Ridiculously Pregnant

I feel like in the last couple of weeks, I have been subject to a near-perfect storm of fuckery that has conspired to make me as hot and miserable (in all senses of the word) as possible. When you’re this frigging pregnant (and in the middle of a summer heat wave), even the most saintly among us will have a hard time keeping their cool. To complicate matters, it’s not as if you can go out for a drink with friends to take the edge off or indulge in whatever your substance of choice might be. And if one more person tells you that “stress is bad for the baby,” you’ll have to add hiding the body to your third trimester to-do list. I wanted to share a quick list of my favorite, non-controlled-substance, mostly summer-friendly ways to relax when you’re very, very pregnant and maybe very, very mad.

1. Prenatal yoga
2. Massages
3. Facials
4. Going for a walk
5. Reading something that makes you feel understood. For me, that’s Tiffany Dufu’s Drop the Ball.
6. Indulging in something yummy (my favorites right now are mochi ice-cream and poke bowls)
7. Cleaning (this is a psychological tactic called sublimation, and it’s a great way to get some stress out AND satisfy the nesting urge. Particularly if it involves beating rugs).
8. Mani/pedis
9. Swimming, or, for the lazy, float tank therapy
10. Meditation
11. Blogging/writing in a journal
12. Sex (if you feel up to it and don’t want to kill your partner. And if you do, go solo 😉 )
13. Napping
14. Quiet time (particularly if you have a small child already)
15. Get something crossed off your to-do list
16. Try a class or something you won’t have time to do after baby gets here
17. Watch something on TV
18. Take a walk on the beach

What works for you when you’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed?