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Activities 1&2 Elevator Ride
Submitted by Lauren on Sat, 01/26/2008 - 9:06pm.
Often times when I am grouchy or sad or stressed out and have some time on my hands, I find that the absolute, number one, best strategy for lifting my mood is this:
Step One: I go down to the gym in my apartment complex. Luckily most of the other tenants are old and like to smoke, so I have the room to myself. I play some awesome, super-amped-up tunes on my ipod, hop on the treadmill and run as fast as I can for as long as I can. Then I figure, since I’m already down here I might as well work out anyways. This gets the endorphins going and gets rid of any anxiety.
Once I’m done with that, Step two is to take a really long, hot shower. If there is any better mood lifter than a hot shower, I don’t know what it is, and I also don’t care. After the shower, I do my clay facial mask and a bunch of other girly stuff involving things that smell good. This has the added benefit of making me pleasant to be around, increasing my social activity, and thus my long-term happiness. If I don’t have enough time to do all this, watching a couple of funny videos on the internet works, too.
Limiting my self-talk is something I struggle with on a moment-to-moment basis. Two things that have been the most useful so far are:
I put in a yoga video and do that. Having to pay attention to the video turns off my brain instead of just letting my mind wander as I go through the poses. Even if I only have time for fifteen minutes of the video, that still helps to shake me out of my mind and into my life, at least for a little bit.
The other thing that helps is to put on some music, but nothing calm or relaxing. Anything, as long as it makes me want to dance around in my kitchen/living room, will do the trick. It looks silly at first, but it’s fun—until someone comes home early and catches you, then you look silly again.
For reducing physiological arousal nothing beats having a cup of tea. While the water is boiling, I like to do a couple of stretches, just to sort of relax my muscles and un-cramp them from the stresses of the day. When the water boils, I pour it into the cup and just hold it in both hands while the tea steeps. The sudden warmth of the cup in my hands lets the rest of my body know that it’s okay calm down. I mentally try to take that warmth and spread throughout my body, as a kind of tea-meditation. When the tea is cool enough I drink it and enjoy.
Step One: I go down to the gym in my apartment complex. Luckily most of the other tenants are old and like to smoke, so I have the room to myself. I play some awesome, super-amped-up tunes on my ipod, hop on the treadmill and run as fast as I can for as long as I can. Then I figure, since I’m already down here I might as well work out anyways. This gets the endorphins going and gets rid of any anxiety.
Once I’m done with that, Step two is to take a really long, hot shower. If there is any better mood lifter than a hot shower, I don’t know what it is, and I also don’t care. After the shower, I do my clay facial mask and a bunch of other girly stuff involving things that smell good. This has the added benefit of making me pleasant to be around, increasing my social activity, and thus my long-term happiness. If I don’t have enough time to do all this, watching a couple of funny videos on the internet works, too.
Limiting my self-talk is something I struggle with on a moment-to-moment basis. Two things that have been the most useful so far are:
I put in a yoga video and do that. Having to pay attention to the video turns off my brain instead of just letting my mind wander as I go through the poses. Even if I only have time for fifteen minutes of the video, that still helps to shake me out of my mind and into my life, at least for a little bit.
The other thing that helps is to put on some music, but nothing calm or relaxing. Anything, as long as it makes me want to dance around in my kitchen/living room, will do the trick. It looks silly at first, but it’s fun—until someone comes home early and catches you, then you look silly again.
For reducing physiological arousal nothing beats having a cup of tea. While the water is boiling, I like to do a couple of stretches, just to sort of relax my muscles and un-cramp them from the stresses of the day. When the water boils, I pour it into the cup and just hold it in both hands while the tea steeps. The sudden warmth of the cup in my hands lets the rest of my body know that it’s okay calm down. I mentally try to take that warmth and spread throughout my body, as a kind of tea-meditation. When the tea is cool enough I drink it and enjoy.