Embracing a Mindfulness Practice

About a year ago when my glucose got out of control enough to mask a would-be simple and easily treatable infection, I got to spend a pretty scary night in overnight observation to make sure it wasn’t going to my blood stream.
It wasn’t.
But, hearing “we need to get a blood culture,” and knowing that this means they are checking for sepsis, was quite the emotional jolt. After that, I learned that intentional deep breathing exercises and guided meditation every day are powerful enough tools of self-care that they can help me keep my stress level down, which helps me keep my blood sugar in range.
I've learned that my blood sugar is very sensitive to stress, and I can’t just let stress pile up and hope to relax on the next vacation. That’s not good for any of us, really.

After that hospitalization, I started doing mindfulness and a daily gratitude practice, to help me keep letting go of things I can’t control. I write my gratitudes in my prayer journal, and I use apps like the Calm app, and youtube videos for short meditations to ease stress and help me relax. 
Take heed of what havocs stress can wreak on your body, and find something that works for you, to stay centered and grounded; at peace. For me, that's prayer, listening to music, gratitude and meditation. 
One of my daily gratitudes is my support system. That makes it into my notebook every day. And yes, my support system even includes Reesee the Cat.

How do you handle the stress of everyday life? What practices of prayer (gratitude, silence, prayer journaling, praying out loud) help you through difficult times?