--- title: How To Be Less Stressed description: And how you can, too canonical: https://time.com/4229535/end-abusive-relationship-stress/ author: Annbeth Eschbach article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-19T16:06:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:01:53.018Z og:title: ‘How I Ended My Toxic Relationship with Stress’ og:description: And how you can, too og:url: https://time.com/4229535/end-abusive-relationship-stress/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2114a276ad0cf582/69887e2bf887dc60d4e94af4/breathe3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3040 og:image:height: 1710 og:image:alt: breathe og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: ‘How I Ended My Toxic Relationship with Stress’ twitter:description: And how you can, too twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2114a276ad0cf582/69887e2bf887dc60d4e94af4/breathe3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How I Ended My Toxic Relationship with Stress > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Annbeth Eschbach](https://time.com/author/annbeth-eschbach/) ## Annbeth Eschbach Feb 19, 2016 4:06 PM UTC  by [Annbeth Eschbach](https://time.com/author/annbeth-eschbach/) ## Annbeth Eschbach Feb 19, 2016 4:06 PM UTC I used to thrive on stress—I truly believed it gave me energy and excitement. But my company, [exhale](https://www.exhalespa.com/), is centered around the belief that relaxation is essential to wellbeing. And eventually, I realized that I wasn’t living my life in line with the values that the brand really embodied. So I made it a point to do something devoted to relaxing and recharging every day. I took a course in mental resilience, I practiced yoga, I took more of the fitness classes at exhale. I became more present, more mindful, more relaxed—and so much more self-aware. And the funny thing is that I’m just as energetic, driven and passionate as I was when I used stress to motivate me. I’m just less off-balance and less emotional now—and I sleep better, too. I now view relaxation practices as something just as vital to my day as work, exercise and nutrition. It fuels and protects me. It has evolved from a notion that I know is good for me to something that I actively look forward to because it benefits me physically and mentally. But to get to this point, I had to “learn” to relax. If you feel high levels of stress but have no time, here’s what I recommend. **1\. Move**Many of us find peace and relaxation through movement first. I am one of those people. Go do something—anything physical. Then, when you finish, don’t dash back to work or immediately check your phone. Stop, sip some tea or water and congratulate yourself. Relish in the accomplishment of taking time for yourself to do something good for you. Or tell yourself how grateful you are that you were able to have this time and move. This can take two minutes. **_Read more:_** [_How to Break Free from a Culture of Busy-ness_](http://motto.time.com/4206327/break-free-of-busy-ness/?iid=sr-link3) **2\. Breathe**Inhale for five counts, then exhale for five counts. Do it again. Again. And again. You’ll be amazed by how different you feel. **3\. Smile**Just try it. Walk around in the middle of a hugely stressful situation, and smile and think about how things might look differently tomorrow. Pretty soon, the smile will spread to others around you—and I bet you’ll actually start to feel better, too. **_Read more:_** [_How to Spend Less Time Working and More Time Enjoying Your Life_](http://motto.time.com/4202665/work-life-balance-tips/?iid=sr-link2) **4\. Touch**This is my favorite way to relax. Visit an acupuncturist or get a 10-minute neck and shoulder massage. You can also ask a friend or loved one to brush your hair or to scratch your scalp. You’ll notice that you instantly start to release some of the tension your body has been holding onto. _Annbeth Eschbach is the CEO and founder of_ [_exhale_](https://www.exhalespa.com/)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4229535/end-abusive-relationship-stress/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4229535/end-abusive-relationship-stress/"},"headline":"How I Ended My Toxic Relationship with Stress","datePublished":"2016-02-19T16:06:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:01:53.018Z","description":"And how you can, too","url":"https://time.com/4229535/end-abusive-relationship-stress/","keywords":["motto","health","Wellness"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2114a276ad0cf582/69887e2bf887dc60d4e94af4/breathe3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Annbeth Eschbach","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/annbeth-eschbach/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2114a276ad0cf582/69887e2bf887dc60d4e94af4/breathe3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"breathe","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4229535/end-abusive-relationship-stress/","name":"How I Ended My Toxic Relationship with Stress"}}]}] ```