The best stress relief activities work better when you don’t have ANTs (automatic negative thoughts). So how do you get rid of them?
Squash them like a bug!
But ANTS, like the pests they’re named for, are tricky buggers; sneaky, good hiders, and persistent as all get out.
The first step in getting rid of them is to identify them. This can be tricky, they have a way of crawling around in our minds without our even noticing they’re there. They blend in, becoming part of the landscape of our minds.

I have some good news though. I’m about to share a quick simple way to free yourself of ANTs once and for all!
Set a timer for 20 minutes, sit with a notebook and write whatever thoughts come to mind. No judgment, just writing whatever comes.
When I did this exercise, my results were pretty astounding. I quickly filled two sheets of my yellow legal pad, both sides. This from a Law of Attraction teacher who coaches people on how to be happy? But there it was, in blue and yellow, all those nasty little automatic negative thoughts.
What they were doesn’t matter for the purpose of this article on stress relief activities. What does matter is that even as I wrote, I recognized them as disruptive lies. Yet, there they were. It’s not like I took the time to invent them as I wrote, they came quick as thieves.
And thieves they are. Automatic Negative Thoughts will steal your dreams, your motivation and self-esteem, and send you spiraling head-long to the freezer for chocolate ice-cream.
Luckily, there’s a second part to this process. Break out the RAID! Time to challenge those automatic negative thoughts, hold them up to the light.
Go back to that list and take it one lie at a time.
Say, for example, they tell you you’re too dumb for ________. But you graduated high school, maybe even college, or have run a household for X years. You obviously have the smarts to make it this far in life, so you can cross that one off.
If your Automatic Negative Thoughts say you aren’t skilled enough for a venture you want to do, guess what? Skills can be learned. Cross that one off too.
I’m guessing the same holds true for most, if not all the items on your list. And even if you find one that’s true, no doubt there’s a creative way around it that will make itself known to you when you get those noisy Automatic Negative Thoughts out of your head!
Give this technique a try and let me know how it works for you! Trust me, it’s 20 minutes well spent!

For more Best Stress Relief Activities, (30 natural healing techniques) please have a look at my book Relief Beyond Belief.

In Light, Alexandria