Saturday, October 5, 2013

Stress Busters

It's been an interesting week for me on a personal level, with "interesting" being a euphemism for: stressful, hard, enlightening (in a bad way), disappointing, and...well, I think you get my gist. When I encounter bumps in the road like this, I often get stuck in a depressive rut. My game is thrown, know what I mean? This week I've been trying to counteract my self-defeating natural tendencies, with limited success. There's room for improvement, but I'm doing okay. Which is better than lounging in the pits of despair.

My coping mechanisms this week:

  • I have allowed myself to lean on my husband. I'm typically a loner when it comes to difficult situations, so this is a different way of doing things for me. 
  • Sleeping a lot. Maybe this isn't great, but I usually don't get anywhere near enough sleep. This past week I've been getting, I'm estimating, enough plus a little more.
  • Confiding in a friend. I might vent from time to time, but I generally don't ever truly lay it all out there for anyone. This time I did, and it was kind of refreshing, in a super naked feeling kind of way.
  • Escapism, in the form of reading a lot. Also, I even fell asleep watching Pretty in Pink one night. (I hardly ever watch television. But I love this movie.)
  • Yoga. I went to my first class. I loved it. I felt so zen by the end of the class, like I had just had an hour long massage. You know that feeling, kind of like you're walking on air and everything is just mellow and good? Three days later and it finally doesn't hurt my abs to cough anymore.
  • Getting out of the house. Mathilda and I went on two preschool field trips, one to an apple orchard and one to a fire station. It's kind of hard to be anything but happy when you're hanging out with a bunch of preschoolers. I went to book club with some girl friends. I went downtown with my friend and laughed a lot. 
  • Indulging in a little comfort food. I didn't go overboard, but I did get fries and a frappe from McD's, and ate lots of cereal.
  • Writing about it. No one has to see what you write, it still helps.
Well, I think that's all I've got. I'm trying. That's all. 

 

4 comments:

Jeremy Norton said...

I am really a comfort eater. Every time I get too stressed out, I usually have a good dine out and eat my favorite chocolate cake.

Jeremy Norton said...

I am really a comfort eater. Every time I get too stressed out, I usually have a good dine out and eat my favorite chocolate cake.

Unknown said...

Yoga is amazing! give yourself that pleasure often

Unknown said...

Yoga is great, try to give yourself that pleasure often XO