Small Tools, Real Relief: Two Months of Wellness Wednesday

Every other month this year, I round up what's been coming out of Wellness Wednesday on Instagram and Facebook and bring it here with a little more room to breathe. This batch covers July and August, eight tools I lean on in my own life, along with where each one fits into event, travel, or hospitality work. None of this is theory. I use every single one of these.

Start a Gratitude Journal

"Our mind grows its focus on what we focus on. Choose gratitude, even on the hardest days - especially on the hardest days."

I started this practice a week after my grandpa passed at the end of 2017, and it never left. Three things, every morning, before the day gets its hooks in me. On the mornings when my mind goes blank, I go back to basics: I'm breathing, I have a bed, I have running water. I notice a difference if I skip this habit too many days in a row. Simple things can give a big payoff. 

For hospitality teams walking into a brutal shift or an event crew facing a fourteen-hour day, a thirty-second gratitude check-in before doors open can shift the entire tone of the room.

The Best Kind of Revenge

"The best revenge is becoming the best version of yourself. Don't give them the satisfaction of seeing you fail."

This one's my sassy side talking, but it holds up. If someone has hurt you or tried to bring you down, the temptation to prove them wrong can eat up all your energy. The move that works is redirecting that fire into yourself instead - your business, your friendships, your growth.

In an industry this small, where you'll cross paths with the same vendors and clients for years, this is survival math. Petty stays home. The work speaks for itself.

Valerian Root

Nature's chill pill. Valerian root has been calming anxious minds and promoting sleep for centuries.

Valerian works with your nervous system rather than against it, which makes it gentler than most sleep aids and non-habit forming for most people. Effects build with consistency, so it's not an instant fix, but a lot of people notice a difference within a week or two.

If you've ever tried to function through a three-time-zone red-eye or the pre-event insomnia that shows up the night before load-in, this is worth researching with your doctor.

Essential Oils & Aromatherapy

Your sense of smell is directly connected to your emotional brain. Use it to shift your mood instantly.

Applied topically and diluted, oils like lavender, peppermint, and ylang ylang support everything from anxiety to focus to grounding. Diffused and inhaled, the effect is even faster - scent travels straight to the emotional center of your brain, which is why a single whiff of something familiar can change your whole state in seconds.

This is also exactly why the best wellness gift kits and hotel amenity programs are leaning into scent design on purpose. A well-chosen fragrance at check-in or in a welcome bag isn't a nice touch, it's doing real emotional work before a guest even unpacks.

Laughter (Funny Movies or TV)

Laughter is medicine. When life feels heavy, give yourself permission to laugh.

Laughter releases endorphins and gives your nervous system a genuine reset. It doesn't fix the problem, but it interrupts the spiral, and sometimes that's exactly what you need. Keep a list of what makes you laugh - not what's supposed to be funny, what actually gets you - for the nights you need it.

On the road, this is your best long-layover strategy. On the programming side, a little built-in levity between dense sessions does more for engagement than another slide deck ever will.

Talking with a Friend

You don't have to carry everything alone. Reaching out is strength, not weakness.

Our instinct when things get hard is to withdraw, mostly because we don't want to be a burden. Most people want to help and just don't know they're needed until you let them in. You don't have to share everything at once. "I'm having a hard time and could use someone to talk to" is a complete sentence.

Solopreneurs and small teams in this industry know this one intimately. The conference friendships that turn into real check-in calls are worth protecting.

Therapy

Therapy isn't just for crisis - it's for growth, understanding, and having a trained guide through life's challenges.

You don't need to be falling apart to benefit from therapy. Going when things are manageable is often what keeps them manageable. There's still stigma around it in some circles, which is wild given the industry we work in: we've spent decades perfecting the smile-through-anything skill, standing at registration with a full face of composure while the vendor no-showed, the AV died, and the room block fell through in the same hour.

Post-pandemic, more of us are finally saying the quiet part out loud: the show must go on is not a mental health strategy. Get the trained guide. Your nervous system will thank you.

The Common Thread

None of this requires a grand overhaul. A journal, a scent, a phone call, a laugh, a session on the calendar - small tools, used consistently, do more heavy lifting than any single big gesture ever could. The same goes for how we design travel, events, and hospitality experiences: it's rarely the huge splashy add-on that lands, it's the small, well-placed detail.

What's the tool on this list you're already using, or the one you're most curious to try?