pick-me-up

you know those days when you're just feeling down?

I hate those days. they've been more frequent lately, with the whole breakup and all. you know the days. the days where you watch Crazy Stupid Love and lose it at your tv because if Steve Carrell can find love, why can't you? the days where everyone is busy, and you've had too much "alone time." the days where you feel bored and listless and just sort of low.

well! I have a list of my favourite ways to beat the low-days.

exercise. boost those endorphins! go for a ten minute walk, do some Zumba or hit a yoga class. no matter how you do it, make sure you do it for at least ten minutes. exercise is shown to decrease mental illness extraordinarily well, so it can also decrease the crappy-day-blues.

do something you love. which sounds obvious, but baking a cake, blogging or organizing your tool shed will distract you from whatever is making you feel low, give a sense of purpose and will also make you happy.

let someone know. telling someone that you're feeling like crap can be really therapeutic! it's like getting someone on your side, and it can also provide a fresh perspective.

take a shower. okay, this might be me-specific. when I'm sad/angry I really love to take a shower. it's my own personal space where I can think, cry and sing. plus, you come out smelling better than before.

remind yourself that it's not forever. you will eventually feel happy again. if it becomes something that lasts a significant amount of time, it might be worth discussing with your doctor or a psychologist. and in the meantime, there's always this song:

re:new

sometimes we need a fresh start.

sometimes, the best thing we can do for ourselves is to start over.

over the past few years, I have changed so much. I've lost my religion, finished my degree, become a feminist, gained and lost friends, relationships and jobs. My mental health has fluctuated just as much as my life has over the past few years. Sometimes, even in between a few days I can go from feeling 100% fantastic to 100% not-so-shiny.

Often, it makes me feel better to drop whatever I'm working on and to just have a fresh start - or at least to take a moment to lean back and look at what I'm doing. I need to see how things could be better, and it's pretty dang hard to do that during a panic attack or during high stress moments.Change is good. Change is challenging, but change is good. It's good for your mental health to rethink things sometimes. :)

As you can see, I've changed some things here on the blog. Definitely be expecting more changes - this mini facelift on the blog is just another example of taking a step back and seeing how things could be better.

stressed out

This week, I've been experiencing an anxiety flare up.

Which is weird, considering I'm finished school and a lot of my projects are wrapping up. In a lot of ways I have nothing to be stressed about.

I saw this TEDx talk a few days ago, and thought it was soo insightful! the concept of anxiety preparing us to deal with the worst is honestly such a beautiful way of looking at it. what do you think? could you and stress be friends?

panic attack

have you ever had a panic attack? the fear sets in and suddenly your heart rate is through the roof. as you try to calm down, your palms become sweaty and you can't really concentrate - except, at the same time you're fixating and sliding down the rabbit hole into a panic-stupor. you're overthinking, your muscles feel weird, your stomach starts to hurt and you have a hard time carrying on a conversation.

in my personal experience, at this point things can go one of two ways: you have a panic attack, or you successfully calm yourself.

before you're breathing into a paper bag (does anyone really do this??) and having a major panic attack, there are definitely a few things you can do to calm down - or to help calm down a friend!

for me, the last thing I want to hear is stay calm or relax. obviously, if I could, I would. the biggest thing that works for me is distraction. if I'm with someone else I'll ask them to tell me some story about their life, and if I'm alone I'll try to find something to read or listen to. novelty really helps here.

as obvious as it sounds, deep breathing is your best friend in a panic attack situation. you need to let your nervous system know that the fight or flight panic response is not needed. the best way to do this is by behaving in a calm way: deep breathing, not allowing your thoughts to race (take control! write things down - you won't be able to write as quickly as your thoughts are going) and stretching are all ways to inhibit that fight or flight response.

the deep breathing exercise that works for me has always been inhale for 4 counts, hold for 3 counts, exhale for 5 counts. that will slow everything down (and concentrating on the counts will distract you!)

if you have passed the threshold into the having-a-panic-attack mode, let it run its course. do your best to calm down with deep breathing, and if you're with someone let them know where you're at. it might feel like you're having a heart attack and about to die, but gently remind yourself that you're not going to die and it will eventually die down. be kind to yourself + don't blame yourself. most people will have a panic attack in the course of their lifetime, so you are not alone.

how do you deal with panic attacks?

chill out!

I am SO excited to introduce a new series on my blog: mental health mondays! Like most of my ideas, this one came to me in the shower - I've been so excited + planning ever since! I'm starting off the series with my favourite ways to beat anxiety in the springtime!

As all y'all know, I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and in general struggle with anxiety during the day-to-day. I think a lot of people deal with anxiety and in a lot of ways our society tells us that we need to perform + be at a standard that isn't really achievable. This creates so much stress and anxiety, and the problem is cyclical: the more anxious we become, the more our performance suffers, so we become even more anxious. We become anxious about controlling our anxiety (or at least I do!) and ensuring that we don't seem anxious. One awesome way to beat this cycle is to [essentially] take a time-out. Doing whatever you love is going to make everything a little bit easier. These are some of my favourite ways to take a time-out during those high anxiety times.

If you have five minutes: When I only have a short period of time to calm the hell down, I pour myself a large glass of water, listen to my favourite song + give myself a temple massage or practice deep breathing. I won't do any work or talk to anyone for the duration of the song and just focus on calming down and taking care of myself. Some mini-me-time.

If you have half an hour: When I have a real break, there are a few different de-stressers I like to hit up. Taking a quick, brisk walk really ups the endorphins and makes me feel better. Sometimes I'll watch a 20-minute episode of a tv show if I really need to be mindless. Other times I'll call one of my besties or my mom and get a quick pep-talk. It's ideal to find something that will distract you from the anxiety, and also get some happy-hormones flowing. Connecting with others, laughing at the Mindy Project + getting exercise are all great and non-time-consuming ways to do this!

If you have a few hours: When I have a free evening or a few free hours (especially if it's been a really high-anxiety day) I will hit up a hot yoga class. Yoga has been scientifically proven to ease anxiety - yoga stimulattes the vagus nerve. Calming down that flight or fight response is what really works to ease anxiety (more info here). If I don't have the $$, I'll practice a few simple positions at home and focus largely on deep-breathing. When I'm at home (in BC), a long walk by the ocean is another chilling-out favourite. Alternatively, if I'm super wiped out, I'll light a candle and watch a movie or read a book. Just taking that down time can really help with the "high anxiety exhaustion." 

Starbucks is always my fave back-up plan on stressful, busy days.

I'm so thrilled to be posting this first mental health monday post! if you have a topic you'd like me to write on for a mental health monday, tell me in the comments below! what are your favourite ways to deal with anxiety? I can't wait to announce more exciting changes for On the Shoreline - coming soon!