Ok friends let’s be honest here. I have been having a hard time. Life isn’t quite going my way and it’s getting me all down in the dumps. So now what? I can sit in my bed and feel bad for myself or I can do something about it. So here we go. Some of my de-stress methods are pretty standard and others are a little weird. You are welcome.
First kind of stress and methods I shall touch on are ones that I have been using lately. It’s the bad news kind of stress.
1. Wallow
OK I know. This doesn’t sound all that great but it’s all part of the process. I get some bad news and I just have to let it affect me. I recently got some very...disappointing.. . news about my job situation. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to feel. So I just had to sit alone and do nothing but process. Just sit and be sad and cry and be mad and scream and swear and be restless and pace. At the end of the day I could have ignored the feelings and let them simmer or I can let myself feel them. I call this wallowing. I sit
and be mad/sad/angry/pissed/hating the world and be ok with it. Don’t feel bad for feeling bad. You wallow in it and ugly cry and you own that space on the couch and your need to just sit in pajama pants. You deserve the moment to just feel whatever you want to feel.
2. Complain
Darn right I am a complainer. I will complain your ear off if you let me. I call my mom and complain. I text anyone who will listen and complain. I yell out into the world all my complaints. Because you know what? The world sucks sometimes. And ya life isn’t fair bit sometimes it would nice if it just would be for once don't you think? So I complain and I whine and I get mad when people don’t also think that the situation sucks. Because it does darn it! And when I get all the “this sucks” out I can...
3. Do something about it
That’s right it does suck. It shouldn’t but it does. Now what? Send resumes out, do research, go make something or do something. Thank that spot on the couch, take off your pjs and send some nice messages to all your complained to friends and do whatever it is that you can to make it all (potentially) suck a little less.
I am at that lovely doing something about it stage (with a touch of the complaining but, hey I am a whiner what can I say?). What did I do? Sent a bunch of emails, looked at way too many websites and.. Wrote this.
Ok so that is a list of kind of specific strategies but as you know I am a stress ball so I have some other things that I do for more general everyday anxiety and stress.
4. Progressive Muscle Relaxation
It sounds fancy doesn’t it? It is essentially tensing certain muscles and releasing them. It allows you to isolate areas of your body that are feeling tense and to let it out. It works for me because it tend to get all scrunched up when I get anxious. I use it a lot when I am feeling anxious and can’t sleep. I learned about this actually from a training that I teach other people. Ironic no? Anyways I have included the video I show the people at workshops for your viewing pleasure. Because I am a mean person I make them do it with me every time and it's my favourite part. The video is a great introduction to what PGR is and well it always makes everyone giggle so that helps too.
5. Binge watch
I am the worst for binge watching. I can sit and watch a whole season of any show without even realizing it. Darn you auto-play! Besides tv I also binge watch YouTube videos. Some channels/youtubers that I watch are Grace Helbig, Hannah Hart, Mamrie Hart, Colleen Ballinger, Good Mythical Morning, whatever they decide to post on Buzzfeed (Try Guys and LadyLike are my faves) and at this very moment I am binge watching segments of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Specifically I just watch his #Hashtag segments because they always make me laugh so much. I think I may have watched every one ever posted by now yet I am still just pressing next. For your viewing pleasure I have added a link to one of my favourites:
6. Sing
I sing A LOT. Whether it is good or not I have no idea. (I think I can be the next biggest thing to hit the music world. But that’s just me). I tend to pick one song that really speaks to me at that moment. You know what I mean? One of those, it comes on and you think “Oh my god she understands me” and then you look out the window all dramatic like you are in a music video? Ya like that. I sing sad songs and happy songs. Songs from musicals, Disney songs, country songs, pop songs; nothing is safe from me. Singing is just a good outlet for me to get the feelings out. And I sing loudly. Sorry neighbours.
7. Read or Watch something I have seen/read a million times
I have this thing where I actually prefer to watch movies or read books that I have already seen or read. Is that weird? I like knowing what’s going to happen and not having to get that into it but still know what is going on. I like watching the same guy chase the same girl through the airport. I like knowing all the songs they sing. I like knowing that though they may be fighting now that they they will love each other other at the end. I like singing every song in the musical…
I like knowing what movie or book is going to make me cry. Very useful sometimes.
I like knowing that the character is going to die so I can prepare myself for it. Darn you J.K Rowling.
Movies I over and over watch: Any cheesy romantic comedy basically with Kate Hudson, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Lopez or Katherine Heigel. Anything with Rachel McAdams. The Wizard of Oz. Moulin Rouge. Pitch Perfect. In Time. Disney.. Anything
Books I have read over and over: Harry Potter series, Hunger Games series, A Great and Terrible Beauty series Ella Enchanted, and The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine and books by celebrities and youtubers like Mindy Kaling, Grace Helbig, Tina Fey, and Ellen Degeneres
8. Breathe
Sounds simple doesn’t it? But it is important to just take a minute and just breathe. Quiet your body and focus on just breathing in and out. There is another thing from the work shops I teach called the breathing square.It looks like this:
It reminds you to just steady yourself and to just breath with a visual reminder on what to do.
9. Go for a walk
Just get out of there! No seriously get out of the space that you are feeling stressed in and just walk. Listen to some music or just walk in silence or make someone come with you. Catch Pokemon if that's something you do. I just sometimes feel restless and need to get my body moving and get out of the house and get away from that stress that is sitting there staring at me from my phone or computer or just seems to be hanging in the air. Walking helps me think. Bonus: you hatch your eggs (Pokemon Go reference).
10. Take a bath
I read somewhere that taking a hot relaxing bath is as good as taking anxiety medications in terms of lessening stress. I don’t remember where I read it but I am going to take that info as truth and use it as an excuse to take 3 baths a day. I can also combine it with so many other strategies. I can yell and complain and have conversations with the pretend person I am mad at without anyone being there to judge me. I can sing as loud as I want (in the shower or the bath) and I can read (can’t do that in the shower). And I can drink wine. I will just leave it at that.
8. Dance like a crazy person
I like to dance but I don’t dance like a normal person. I dance like I am in a choreographed number at my elementary school’s showcase (Talent show for all you people who are not my sister). Like I am the lead singer and I am performing in a Las Vegas show. I dance and act out the lyrics and lip sync and would embarrass myself if anyone was watching. But I don’t get embarrassed because I don’t care how crazy I look. Nothing gets out the crazy more than acting crazy.