When you live with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, it can affect every decision you make. But if you make simple changes to your daily routine, they don’t have to. From breathing exercises to relaxation techniques, here are eight simple things you can do today to be more comfortable while living with psoriasis.

1. Meditate

You’ve heard it before and I’m going to tell you again mindful meditation is good for the body, mind, and soul. This can be five minutes or less a day, but a review study at John Hopkins looked at the relationship between mindfulness meditation and its ability to reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and pain. There are helpful meditation apps like Brightmind and Headspace that you can listen to in the car on your commute to work or in the morning when you’re getting ready to start your day.

2. Breathe

Just take a five to 10 minute break from your day and breathe. Sit up straight, close your eyes, and inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. If it’s helpful, put your hand on your belly so you can feel your abdomen as you’re breathing. Breathing can counter the effects of stress by lowering blood pressure and slowing the heart rate. Stress can be a trigger for those of us living with psoriasis, so learning breathing exercises as a way to cope with stress will set you up for success in the long term maintenance of living with psoriasis.

3. Turn Up The Volume

Neuroscientists in the UK have proven that listening to music can reduce anxiety by up to 64 percent. I don’t know about you, but as a full-time working, stay at home mom, anxiety seems to peek around every corner, literally. And for me, anxiety turns into stress then stress is a trigger for my psoriasis flares. So if I can reduce my anxiety by listening to music, I’ll be listening to jams all day long.

Read my other 5 tips to feel more comfortable when living with psoriasis here via Healthcentral.

Which one of these do you resonate with? Let me know below, I love hearing from yall!