Sometimes, I wake up and I feel like I need to sleep another few hours. Or I lose my temper easily and then feel guilty about it. Or I may feel soreness in my joints. After a couple of days feeling like this, I know it is time for a self care day or even just a self care few hours. When I feel frazzled, I have some tried and true strategies that work for making me feel better. Here is my list of strategies for feeling better.
Outdoor Yoga
Today, I went to yoga in the Gardens at Cranbrook. Although, I felt tired and achy this morning, I knew I would feel better after yoga outdoors. There is something about breathing in the fresh air and looking at nature that makes me happy. And focusing on nothing but my breathing for an hour is restorative to my mind and body. I have signed up for a couple of other outdoor yoga classes this summer. I like knowing that I have a plan and even if the weather is bad one day, there is always another class to try.
Walking
I have to take regular breaks from my computer. Between working full time in healthcare administration and running my own social media business, I am in front of a computer way too many hours seven days a week. It is exhausting but it is a way of life now, especially as we are easing back to normal after the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to be my best self, I take breaks every hour or so. Walking is one of my favorite ways to unwind and get some exercise. I prefer to walk outdoors but that is not always possible here in Michigan. When the weather is bad, I use a stepper and I just watch the news or reality television and step on it to get moving. I am more productive after these little breaks and less short tempered.
Healthy Eating
I have been moving to more of a plant based diet for about a year now. At first, I was hard for me to skip meat at breakfast and lunch but I have gotten used to it. I learned to eat less animal products and more fruits, vegetables, fish and whole grains. Recently, I went on vacation and realized that I only ate chicken for one meal over five days. The rest of the time I ate fish, eggs or cheese and felt great. It’s funny how your body gets used to things and my stomach is feeling a lot better without all of that meat in my diet.
Positive Mindset
Lately, I have heard the words “positive mindset” quite a bit. Whether in the news or through listening to my friends talk about it as a useful tool with their clients or their students. For me, it means that I will feel better each day with I have a positive mindset. If I catch my family or my coworkers being negative, I try to redirect the conversation to something positive. It makes a difference and helps me feel better.
Slow Down
It is a real challenge for me to slow down. I am always doing several tasks at once. But I want to keep working on slowing down because I know it will help me feel less stressed and may even help my high blood pressure. It takes time, and reinforcing the habit but small steps can lead to great results. Just sitting on my patio with a cup of coffee in the morning, journaling or stopping to enjoy my garden feels good to me. I also like to call a friend of family member each day to check on them and catch up. And I try not to multitask during our conversation.
That is the end of my list I hope you will try my strategies for feeling better. Please share some of your tips in the comments.
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Thanks for this — I’ve been looking at some other ways to incorporate things in my everyday life that are just there to help my mental/emotional health. I want to build more space in my life for moments and activities that aren’t based around productivity, etc. Great ideas!