I’m writing this extremely pissed off. I’m actually slamming my keyboard with much more vehemence than is necessary and there’s a rage inside me burning brightly. Why? Because I’ve had a pretty shitty day, it’s been long, painful and people have wound me up on all kinds of levels. My laptop has just had a meltdown and I thought I’d lost a years worth of pics, so that didn’t help either. Anyway, I’m putting on my positivity pants, they’re black like my soul, and I’m going to turn the frown upside down.
When I’m feeling like this, and I recognise it, I try to do a few things that help me chill out. Now, I’m obviously not suggesting this will work for everyone but it helps me.
- WRITE
I’m already starting to calm the fuck down and I’ve only written two paragraphs. Writing has always been my outlet, my love, my therapy, and it has saved me on many occasions. - READ
Books, audiobooks, ebooks, whatever your preference; lose yourself in a novel. - CALL SOMEONE
I always call my best friend, if I’ve had a shit day, he usually has too, it’s quite weird how in-sync we are. After a rage and a chat about reality TV I’m usually laughing and forget why I was stressed. My mum is also my ‘person to call’, because, well, duh, she’s my mum. - LISTEN TO MUSIC
And have a dance party. Sing loudly, and have a concert in your room. I usually play my favourite songs and if I don’t know the words (I never do, I’m shit at remembering lyrics), I get the lyrics up online and sing along. Just call me Queen Bey. - GO OUTSIDE
Walk, drive, whatevs, go get some fresh air. I like to go for a drive, I find it relaxes me and makes me concentrate on the road. I can also combine this with listening to music (without the lyrics), so that’s a two for one. - GET CRAFTY
Colouring books are my pals when I’m stressed. It makes me focus and I really enjoy it. Obviously if my hands are painful, it’s a no-go but there’s plenty of other ways to get creative. - WATCH SOMETHING
Hello Netflix my old friend. I’m a massive telly-head and there’s usually something I can binge-watch for a while. - PAMPER SESSION
I do love a pamper night, and doing my full skincare routine including a face mask is always bloody lovely. I also really enjoy getting my nails done or giving myself a pedicure. - CUTE ANIMALS
YouTube the shit out of adorable puppies (or whatever your preferred pet is). I get on Twitter and ask people for pet pics and they come flooding in – best times. - NAP
Sometimes a nap doesn’t solve everything, and other times it’s the best thing ever. If you fancy a nap, go have that nap babe.
How do you chill out?
I'm so sorry that you've had such a rough day. Sending lots of love your way! I've been working on improving my ability to chill out. It's been a massively stressful year of tests, having my mobility scooter stolen, PIP and all sorts of other things. I find that once I get too wound up nothing helps and I just shut down. So I've been working on identifying when stress is starting to creep up on me and trying to find things to reduce it before it gets to 'shut down' level. My go-to outlet was always playing my oboe, but I can't do that any more. Let's hope there are fewer stresses for both of us moving forward. Xx
Tania | When Tania Talks
Goodness, Sarah it sounds like you had a shite day :/ I use a lot of these techniques for calming down, too! My favorite one is screaming and getting rid of all my anger, which usually leads to me crying in frustration then I feel better lol
This is such a great post, I felt like I was reading about myself. I use all of these to calm down, I always try to go to the gym and let all my anger out on working out.
https://twitter.com/PWhiley94/status/861862394867449856
Great post – all of the ways you chill out are the ways I like to chill out, too. Also, cuddling my cat helps. A lot! http://www.aimeeraindropwrites.co.uk
Thanks lovely. Yeh, I think CBT helped me identify things and although I'm not where I want to be, it's still been really beneficial.
Yep definitely x
I think I need to add screaming to my list x
Ahh that's another good one. Thank you x
Ahhh I bet it does, I love a good cuddle with my brothers dogs x