As someone who has pretty bad anxiety, I’ve had my fair share of bad days. There are days when I feel like doing nothing but lying in bed, letting myself wallow in my misery.
But I’ve come to realize that there’s nothing beneficial about letting myself remain stressed and anxious when I could be doing something to feel better.
I’ve come to understand that often when I feel overwhelmed and stressed, there is some basic need that I am neglecting to meet for myself, which is causing me to feel bogged down.
So I’ve created myself a checklist for those days. I’ve found that when I go through this checklist and make sure that all my basic needs are met, I end up feeling at least a little bit better, if not completely better.
So without further ado, here is my step-by-step routine I do when I need to feel better:
- Take a deep breath.
Usually when I feel overwhelmed, my mind feels a little flustered, and I have a hard time focusing on one thing. By first letting myself just take a moment to breathe, I can slow down my heartbeat, let myself relax for a moment, and better gather myself.
- Drink a full glass of water.
I don’t know about you, but I often forget to drink enough water. It’s something I don’t think about, but dehydration can happen easily and it can cause all kinds of side effects. Usually when I drink some water, my body starts to feel a little more refreshed and balanced, and this helps my mental healthy bigtime.
- Eat something healthy if you’re hungry.
In the same way we need to stay hydrated, we also need to keep out bodies going with healthy foods. I’m an emotional eater, so typically when I feel overwhelmed or stressed, I want to eat ice cream or brownies or something that isn’t good for me. But I’ve found that when I make myself eat something healthy and nutritious, both my body and my brain feel a lot better.
- Take a shower
I started doing this a little while ago, and I have to say that it really has helped me when I need to cope with any anxiety and stress I may be feeling. Even if I don’t need to take a shower, taking a little bit of time for myself to do this gives me a chance to unwind. It’s one of the only places where I can go in my home and be completely alone. I don’t know what it is about the shower, but for some reason, I think so much better when I’m there. It’s like I’m able to just think through and let go of all of my thoughts and concerns and anxieties. Another little trick I learned that helps is to imagine that as you’re washing off or standing in the water, all of your stresses and worries are washing away. If you’re one for visualization techniques, I highly recommend this. I tend to do this quite often, and I’m not gonna lie, it helps me to feel a little bit lighter once I’m done. There is just something about being physically clean and refreshed that helps your mind feel a little better.
- Get some rest.
This is a big one for me. 9 times out of 10, if I’m grumpy or stressed, getting some rest helps me feel better. Even if it’s just a 20-minute nap, I usually wake up feeling refreshed and re-energized, and overall just more mellow. I think we tend to underestimate the power of sleep.
- Tidy up your space
If you’re like me, you might feel overwhelmed by messy and unorganized spaces, especially in your own home. One thing I have realized about myself is that often when my home is messy and cluttered, I feel more stressed and I almost feel a little more cluttered mentally. A good way to help your mind a little bit is to tidy up any messes that may be around you, even if it’s just making your bed or unloading the dishwasher. Simple things like this can have more of an effect on our mental health than we may realize.
One book about this exact subject that is on my wish list is Gretchen Rubin’s book, ‘Outward Order, Inner Calm’.
You can check it out here:
- Journal out your thoughts
For me, and for many people I know, writing out what is on our minds can be very therapeutic. There’s just something about so freeing about getting out your thoughts onto some paper. There are no rules on how to do this, it’s simply getting out a notebook, or your laptop, or even your phone, and just writing out what you are thinking and feeling. There is no length requirement. Sometimes I’ll be able to write pages and pages of my thoughts, and sometimes I am only able to come up with a line or two. But no matter what, it helps me feel a little better and it helps me put things into perspective. Often I end up writing down things that I hadn’t even realized I was feeling. It is so so freeing.
Bonus: if you want to take this a step further, after writing out your worries and concerns and stressors, take a moment to either write down ways you can overcome those things or reasons that everything will be okay.
- Spend some time in nature
There’s just something about being in nature that sort of puts all of my thoughts into perspective. It helps center me and reminds me that everything will be okay. Not only that, but time in nature is proven to help your body produce endorphins and the fresh air your breath in helps your body lower your stress hormone levels.
- Check something small off of your to-do list.
As people of a busy society, it’s pretty likely that your to-do list is quite long. For most people (including me), this can lead to high amounts of stress and anxiety, especially when we may not be checking off the to-do list as quickly as we’d like to be. I’ve found it to be helpful to just check off one thing (pay one bill, make the bed, schedule an appointment, take out the trash), even if it’s the tiniest thing on the list. It sounds so small, but even an itty bitty accomplishment like this can help our minds to feel like we have a little more of a grasp on life.
- Remind yourself that everything will be okay.
You are strong. You are beautiful. You are amazing.
Take a moment to remind yourself of those things. Even when we face the most stressful and difficult moments in life, we still come out on top. Remind yourself that you are going to be okay.
Leave a Reply