You can’t live a positive life with a negative mind.
Today, I wasn’t feeling my best.
Despite having good boundaries in place, the negative thoughts can still creep in. When this happens I have a list of go-to self-care activities and I thought I would share these with you.
Meditation
I always thought meditation was sitting crossed-legged on the floor and clearing your mind completely, which, quite frankly, feels impossible for me. I gave up trying to meditate for ages until it was explained to me that is not the case.
The actual definition of meditation, according to Merriam-Webster, is:
1: to engage in contemplation or reflection.
2: to engage in mental exercise (such as concentration on one’s breathing or repetition of a mantra) for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness
Each morning, I make myself a cup of tea, set a timer for 10 minutes and sit in silence, letting my brain do what it wants to, which is usually worry, roll off my list of things I need to do and a few other odd random thoughts.
I have noticed that if I skip doing this for a few days, my brain slowly fills up, the thoughts having not been given their morning freedom and the overwhelm kicks in.
I have also found that if something I perceive as negative happens throughout the day, stopping to take 10 minutes can help me gain a bit of perspective and even put a positive spin on things.
Avoid the news
How often do we see positive news appear on the TV or on our phones?
Just this morning, I have had 5 phone notifications from a news app and all of them are negative.
Both negativity and positivity are like magnets and once you are drawn into one, the more you attract.
if I am in a negative mindset, I turn off the TV and any device notifications for the news. Seeing or reading something negative will just feed me more of it.
Talking
I have a counselling session each week and I feel comfortable enough to let any of my concerns out during that hour, but if I have something that’s bothering me, I talk to the husband, my family or one of my good friends.
Sometimes just getting things off your chest can be a massive release.
Avoid alcohol
Does anyone pour themselves a glass of wine to relax?
I was convinced that a glass or two of wine was a cure and alcohol numbed me to the things I didn’t want to think or feel.
This could not be further from the truth.
Drinking alcohol is quite simply adding fuel to the fire and eventually, you will feel worse than you did in the first place.
Gratitude
There is always something to be grateful for, even if sometimes it doesn’t seem that way. It could be something as small as having food to eat.
Feeling thankful for what we have will us distract from the negative thoughts, in a much healthier way.
Getting outside
Take yourself outside. In the garden, on the balcony or for a walk around the block.
A change of scenery, even for 10 minutes, can help you think things through or put your mind elsewhere.
Setting intentions
Giving yourself a plan for the day is a good way to refocus the brain.
Think about what you can do to make the day easier on you.
Get those annoying tasks out of the way first, those you have been putting off, and you will feel so much better after.
Make a to-do list, and tick things off as you do them, it’s so satisfying to see all those ticked-off tasks at the end of the day.
Scrolling
Yes, you read that right. Scroll.
If, like me, you pick up your phone and mindlessly scroll through social media before you even realise what you are doing, mute or unfollow anything negative on your feed.
Even better, set up a separate social media account and follow only positive pages. There are so many out there and they are full of useful ways to help you feel happier.
Music
There is nothing like a good song to lift the spirits. Everyone should have their own happy playlist.
If you don’t you can borrow mine.
Sing along, dance and enjoy.
Write
Writing down your thoughts and feelings is a good way of making sense of them.
Just like talking, it gets the thoughts out of your head, where they would otherwise endlessly swim around.
For me, writing is such a huge release.
I can get everything out of my brain and down in words, it doesn’t matter what I write, no one ever has to read those words unless I want them to.
What are your go-to self-care activities? ♥️
