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How are you practicing self care?
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Choose to be happy today
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I journal, take long baths/showers, and nap. Napping isn’t always the best coping mechanism, but I often need to do it to give my brain and emotions a chance to rest.
I usually try to give myself a whole day (or evening if I can’t take the day) to do whatever the heck I want (sulk, eat some junk food, watch Netflix etc.) and then the next day I focus on healthy coping mechanisms. Probably not the best approach, but I’m usually not overly successful with healthy habits that first day.
I suggest starting with slow, relaxed deep breathing. Relaxed breathing is critical for every stress management technique. And it is simple to learn. Breathe slowly for a few seconds through your nose, hold your breath for a moment, then breathe out through your mouth slowly while counting to five.
Try this breathing exercise for 10-15 minutes around the same time each day, if you can. Then after a few weeks, you can try out hatha yoga, which is basically simple stretches with relaxed breathing, or progressive muscle relaxation or even autogenic training. Don't try more advanced techniques like imagery or meditation for a few months yet
Start with the basics and be patient. It takes time to reduce all of the stress you are feeling and aren't even aware of. Relaxation for stress management doesn't happen overnight. But once it does, it's really helpful. Good luck
Yoga videos - I recommend Artflow Yogea.
First and foremost, be kind to yourself. Give yourself permission to do whatever feels good (within reason, of course). I carry all my stress and tension in my upper back, so like to do simple/easy yoga focused on that area to start to release tension. Also highly recommend epsom salt baths and CBD.
Oh man this is the story of my Friday evening for sure! So mentally exhausted, feeling so overwhelmed by the work-week and the coming work-week, and then avoiding all of these feelings with some unhealthy habit (overdrinking, overeating, over-Netflixing, overeyebrow picking- I totally do this!). What I have been realizing is that the more I can sit with my uncomfortable feelings (usually like you described-mentally exhausted/overwhelmed by my work-week), the more I can start to find out the actual cause of these negative feelings which are my thoughts about my work-week. Usually the thoughts are something like “my week was so f’ing stressful, I just need to zone out” or “I have way too many things going on at work that I just can’t handle” or even “my boss is just an a-hole and never gives me a break”. Basically a slew of negative thoughts about my work-week that is creating all the negative feelings that I now want to totally avoid with some unhealthy habit. Once I can just sit with the feelings and notice all my negative thoughts, I then just allow myself to process the feelings and not take any action in response to those thoughts/feelings. Trying to escape those feelings never works (my eyebrows have suffered enough!) The only thing that works for me is allowing whatever thoughts/feelings I’m having in that moment (that requires being super present and curious), allowing my body to feel the urge that these thoughts/feelings are creating and my desire to escape/avoid them (usually by engaging in some sort of unhealthy or non-desirable activity), and then making the conscious choice to not to do that at least while I’m feeling the uncomfortable feeling. What usually happens is that once I’m able to step back and see what thoughts my brain is offering me in that moment (like the ones above) that is generating the super uncomfortable feelings, I’m then able to get some relief in real time since I’m not the one experience the thoughts/feelings but just watching the thoughts/feelings! It’s amazing and totally works. It’s only THEN that I can then ask my brain to offer me thoughts that would help me in creating a feeling that would drive a more healthy action like going for a run. Usually it’s a thought like “going for run will help me de-stress from my week” or “going for a run always helps me process my work-week and I feel so much better after”. Sorry this was so long but this process has really helped me in overcoming some of my Friday evening buffers (overdrinking/overeating being the main culprits). Happy to share more if you want : )