Stress Management Exercises Can Be Bad For You

Most articles on stress management prescribe meditation, relaxation exercises, organizing time and surroundings, decreasing consumption of drugs, exercise, and humor as stress relievers. The reality is that the list should be much longer than this. The point is not what you do, but whether you enjoy what you are doing. In other words, it is the enjoyment or pleasure in an activity that decreases stress and not the activity in itself.
The danger in remaining within the confines of ten possible stress reducing activities is that it can set some people up for failure. If an individual does not enjoy meditative practices or relaxation exercises they are limited in finding stress reducing activities in the literature. For example, most writers, scholars, and researchers say that it is a really good idea to not engage in drinking or drug use when stressed out. But for some people drug use is an important stress coping activity. It may not be the best for them physically over the long run if the engagement is excessive, but we cannot say it is not functional and temporarily necessary in reducing stress.
Instead of promoting the typical stress reducing activities, I would like to suggest you create a hedonic palate. A hedonic palate is a list of things that give you pleasure. A list of what pleasures you will provide you with a guide to follow when you are feeling particularly stressed out. Any activity that provides for expression of self, escape, and a feeling of well being, will reduce stress. Try it and see!