I personally enjoy taking long walks. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the woods, on a bike trail, or just through town. There’s something nice about just meandering and being alone with your thoughts while still being immersed in the outside world.
There was a period in my life that lasted about 4 or 5 years when I refused to admit that I needed to decompress. I had multiple employers, spent 6 days a week leaving before the sun came up and coming home after dark. I was drinking upwards of 10 coffees per day plus loads of soft drinks. When I did get in I would watch series or movies late into the night. I gained weight and developed anxiety. I also began having migraines multiple times a week. Then I developed pericarditis. I lived like that for a long time. Just popping Xanax to get through the day.
Finally, I managed to see a neurologist who confirmed my migraines (unilateral acephalgic etc. etc.) and gave me a doctor’s note and strict instructions. The TL;DR of those instructions was: REST.
So, I gave in and admitted defeat. That was the first step.
Very quickly my stress levels dropped. It took a few months for the pericarditis to stop.
I stopped all caffeine and other stimulants. Stopped the Xanax. Energy levels exploded.
Step 2 was doing something with that energy. Something I hate with a deep passion: EXERCISE.
After almost 5 years of thinking my life would just be like that it only took 6 weeks for things to get back on track. I deflated and dropped from 108kg to 82kg.
You didn’t need to story, but everyone else here is right. Rest and moving your body helped. Mentally, I was even more creative. I was friendlier. I was even recommended to apply for a promotion.
If you need to decompress, I think sleep is the best. If the sandman ain’t visiting, then combine with movement and fresh air.
Just sleep longer.
6 hours is too short. 7.5 hours is OK. 9 hours is best in my case.I wish I could sleep even 6, ugh
Get a lower paycheck for a stress-free working environment.
Can I opt for a higher paycheck and a stress-free working environment? I think I’d like that slightly better.
That require to face the stress of constant job-hunting.
Yup! I’m 21 so it’s not like I have much experience, but stop working as a waiter in a shitty 5-star holet to do the same job, with a shittier contract, but in a much better and laid back working environment has been a game changer.
Yeah I earn less, but I have more time to study and relax and I don’t hate the place I have to go to six days a week, so…
Put on some music and sing your motherfucking heart out. 👍
This is always a good idea, but it’s an especially a good idea if you have a lot of energy that you can’t just will away or let go of. Sometimes when you can’t calm down or slow down, you can redirect and reframe that energy instead, until you’ve vented it out.
I do meditation. Not mindfulness because I need dissociation for my chronic pain management. I basically do a version that I altered to stay as disconnected from my body as possible and just focus on emotions and observing them.
I also use a yoga ball sometimes, helps me regulate as well
To manage chronic pain you might want to look into the app Curable, my therapist recommended it. It’s a very well-designed app, there’s also a free trial (it’s under $100 for a year). It helps you reprogram your nervous system, but it also feels very supportive. It’s like care and support whenever you need it. I highly recommended it. 👍
It sounds a bit iffy to me that app, ngl
You can’t cure what’s causes by a real physical disease causing dislocations in my body, I can’t reprogram my body into making my connective tissue actually work work. I can’t reprogram my brain into being cured as the name suggests
To me this app looks from a cursory glance like the type of stuff I get peddled by people who don’t believe in my disability and instead call all chronic pain “psychosomatic”. I know that mental health can cause physical symptoms including pain and worsen it. But that doesn’t mean all pain is psychosomatic.
If people like me are not careful with what they say to certain people I can be undiagnosed with my physical disease by a therapist who knows nothing of said disease
You’re right that when you said ‘chronic pain’ I assumed that it was more like the usual chronic pain that people experience today, this app would be helpful for that. I spoke too soon and didn’t have enough information about your condition, sorry. But I meant well, no need to get aggressive… But it’s also to manage pain in general (there’s a free trial if you want). And it’s an extremely well-designed app, like I said, recommended by a therapist, and it’s helped a lot of people including me. I never said that all pain is psychosomatic.
Washing my face! Sometimes something as simple as some refreshing skincare, and maybe a little something extra - like a scrub or sheet mask, makes me feel calmer and relaxed. Paired with a warm drink like tea or coffee, this usually helps soothe me when I’m anxious.
I like to bottle it all up and explode at a later date over something trivial
Dad?
I have a few things I like to do! In no particular order:
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Make a pour over coffee. From measuring, grinding, pouring, and all, it takes 10 to 15 mins. It’s the perfect amount of time to make for a break for something. Then you get all the nice aromas, warm mug, and caffeine general helps stabilize my mood too.
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Walking or sitting outside! Gets the blood moving, change in air, sometimes you hear the birds or insects.
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Take a relaxing bath. You can go extra hard with bathbombs for fragrances and stuff too.
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Light candles, incense, dim lights, put on jazz or some other nice background music. Dim moods and calming smells and good sounds help bring good sensory experiences to block out any bad feelings.
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Lose myself in my instruments. Playing anything requires my focus and forces me to turn off my depression spiral thought patterns and focus on creating something wholesome and pure.
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Well, when I’m at home a cup of tea usually does the trick. When I’m outside on the other hand, I like to take long walks, I just pick a direction and start walking without worrying about where I’m going and stop thinking, maybe with some music in my headphones. I do this until my legs start hurting, and by that point I feel better.
I unfortunately have rarely time for a long walk, but I do love them.
As I spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking dinner I use this time as a little me-time. I pour myself a glass (one is always sufficient) of white wine, put on a podcast and then cook.
I do some breathing exercises using a colorful blob on the screen and do some journaling. I also do tarot readings to assess my energies for the day and to ground myself better since I’m an anxious person. I guess I should really get back into it because I’m getting really antsy these days
How does tarot reading actually work? Can you explain a little the process? Is it hard to learn?
Sorry for the late reply
I’ve been stuck in a reddit binge before Apollo dies.Anyway, every tarot practitioner views it differently. For me, it’s a way to connect with myself and the energies around me. It’s very grounding since it’s just another tool for me to assess my actions and possible outcomes. It’s not something that predicts your future per se. I avoid personal bias by evaluating whether the reading resonates with what I feel and what is objectively happening around me.In a nutshell, it’s a bunch of cards (78 cards) with different symbolisms and meanings. Pull as many as you need, interpret it based on the basic symbolisms and key words on your guide. Decide whether it resonates or not. Do it again as you please. It’s hard at first since there are a lot of cards but it just takes some practice to get better as with any other thing. Sometimes it takes me weeks before I grab my cards again, sometimes I need it on the daily.
15 minutes of guided meditation after a hard workout. Sitting on a camping chair with a cold beer on a hot summer day by yourself. High quality noise cancelling headphones with your favorite music. Being around a friend or friends that all fits the right vibe and everything just clicks. E: Another one is buy one or two in-season quality fruits from a local grower… Just had strawberries in Japan and my life is different.
Skate on my local bike trail and smoke weed
The absolute daily bare minumum: Drink 2 liters of water. Eat as little processed food as possible and as little sugar as possible. Yoga for 10 minutes. Intensive breathing meditation. Sleep for at least 6 hours a night and fall asleep before 11.
On top of that, walk, jog, or run 2 miles every day and read things to expand your mind.
Have a nice porch sit
