I’ll be honest. I’m exhausted. We’re all exhausted – mentally, physically, emotionally or spiritually. ⠀
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I’m not the best version of me when I’m exhausted – in fact, I don’t know anyone who really is. The dull ache of my hip and the broken sleep makes me irritable, social interactions can cause me more anxiety, and the level of lethargy could make a sloth blush. All of this can (and absolutely does) bring negative energy and vibes into my being – which then just causes more irritability because I’m annoyed at myself that being tired makes me annoyed. And then I’m worried about how people perceive me and then stress about that, which annoys me because if I could just get a good night’s sleep and feel refreshed then I’d be ok. Oh, it’s a vicious cycle.⠀
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But I’ve been concentrating on what I can do to let the positive vibes push out the negative.

Exercise

Ever since I injured my hip a few weeks ago, and under the guidance of my physiotherapist, I have started a water-based physical activity practice, mostly water walking and running in the hydrotherapy pool but the occasional swimming session in the big kids pool (humbling moment: I suck at every swimming stroke except backstroke!). Moving my body is so important for my mental health – my husband and I both notice how badly my moods, self acceptance and body image is when I am not moving my body as much or at all. Being able to swim not only allows me to move my body in a way that is gentle and not irritating my hip while I’m recovering over the next four months (yeah, I did a number on my hip!) but it allows me to continue to manage my mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. Being able to move and continue to exercise makes me happy (fuck yeah endorphins!)

Feeding my mind with podcasts and audiobooks

Don’t get me wrong – I am a massive music fan. I believe deep in my soul that music has a vibrational impact on our mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. Have you ever just heard that right beat or a guitar riff and your soul is just transported to a state of utter happiness? Yeah, same. But sometimes I find myself not being able to choose what kind of music to listen to during a certain mood. When this happens I find it’s my mind just subtly asking for something with more substance to feel my soul. I have some go to podcasts that are like catching up with old friends for a brunch date. My go to podcasts are Basic Witches, The Mindful Kind, Do You F***ing Mind?, and Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations. ⠀

Deep breathing

I do deep breathing exercises often and sometimes loudly. When we breathe in deeply we are sending messages to our body and brain to de-stress, calm down and relax. You’ll notice that when you start to breathe deeply during times of heightened stress, your body will start to feel lighter, your chest will loosen up and you’ll feel like your mind is less frantic.

I feel sorry for my colleagues who hear me deep sighing a lot – but it’s a very useful technique I use to release tension, anxiety and stress from my body, even if it’s only momentarily.

Using scents to realign my emotions

Certain smells soothe me or uplift me – and research seems to support the idea that essential oils can help us with our sleep, moods and even improve our quality of life! My favourite smells are:

• Lavender – promotes relaxation, helps with anxiety symptoms and PMS, and can even assist with sleep!
• Jasmine – I love this smell even more so after this study! Now I can wear it knowing that it can not only make me smell AH-MAY-ZING but it will also help with my anxiety symptoms and bring calm without making me sleepy.
• Sweet or Bitter Orange – studies have shown that smelling the sweet or bitter orange essential oils can help minimise the increase of anxiety in anxiety-inducing situations.

Practicing daily gratitude

I’ve written before about how much I love having a gratitude practice. A therapist first put me onto having a gratitude practice as a way for me to find value in myself and my day and to also highlight the positives in my life (my mind has a natural tendency to shift to the negative – call it a product of trauma). How can you incorporate a daily gratitude practice without it being “another thing to do for the day”? I always try and find time to list off things I’m grateful for – whether it’s in the moment or later. It doesn’t have to be written down but if you do want to do that, why not keep a jar and put your daily or weekly gratitude notes in there and read them to yourself at the end of the year or when times are tough? I also sometimes just say what I’m grateful for out loud and speak it into the universe. ⠀

Food is thy medicine

I find myself feeling blegh when I’m not eating right or if I’m not hydrated enough. This then just adds to the whole ‘feeling crappy’ cycle. So lately I’ve been concentrating more on my flexitarian lifestyle and making sure I’m drinking enough water (and cutting back on how much alcohol I have – but we are coming into the festive season….) Given that I also have IBS issues (I sometimes can’t poop for daaaaaaays), making sure I am eating right is so important because there’s nothing worse than eating crappy, feeling crappy but not being able to take a crappy…

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There are so many things we can each do to help us regain our sense of control, calm, and to bring positive and light energy back into our lives during times of exhaustion, stress and anxiety. What I have shared above are just a few things I’m concentration on right now in the lead up to the festive season – which is often a stressful and anxious time for all us with work, family and trying to have some kind of balance.

Let me know what activities you do during times of exhaustion, stress and anxiety!

Much love,
Lara X

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