What makes you feel better? Share your the strategies, techniques, and tips that have helped you most.

[Brooke]

It's a simple question. What makes you feel better? Or at least, what helps you stay strong when things are at their hardest?

 

Do you journal? Meditate? Did you change your diet? Start knitting? Who's work speaks to you? 

 

For me, I started tracking my daily happiness on a scale of 1-100. I figured if I could get myself to an average of 51, then the scale would tip just enough in the positive direction to justify a life worth living. This was such a modest goal that I found that hitting 51 over the course of a week was possible even if I had multiple crap days that clocked in at like, 23. Having something so concrete kept me grounded even if I was feeling like an emotional tilt-a-whirl. 

 

I'd love to see what everyone is doing to self-soothe, and whether or not anyone has come up with any strategies that helped them get through their day to day. Get specific! Pontificate! We're all so strong to still be here, so share what's in that unflinching will. 

[pinkfairy]

Great topic brook.❤️
 

Speaking to myself like I would a dearest friend.Writing in a gratitude journal each day. Fresh air. Changing my diet. Therapy.Snuggling with a weighted blanket. Upcycling furniture! Planting a garden and watching it come to life. Adult colouring books. Baths. And just listening to my body. Resting when i need too. Accepting the entire situation has been a game changer. Distraction and more distraction. Paint by numbers... butterfly hug. 
There’s so much more but I will stop at this lol. Good luck on your journey ✨❤️

[peacewillcome]

Cooking healthy foods really helps ❤️ Being outside in nature, gardening, and dancing help me too!.

[mstimc]

Doing anything creative that demands my attention and quiets the catastrophic thinking.  I used to do woodworking before retiring and moving to Portugal.  Since I had an office job, doing something physically creative was very fulfilling on a creative and physical level.  Since we now live in an apartment, I like taking classes online through the Great Courses, especially classes on history, religion or philosophy.  Keeping my mind engaged in positive activities is vital.

[hayduke]

Riding push bikes around interesting places, preferably off the roads and with good company.  And pretty much anything involving being out in nature.  Cooking is good too

[Artistic1]

Love this question. I like to sew, read, meditate, play with my dog. Anything creative. Taking time to relax and meditate when I'm really overwhelmed also helps. That's hard for a person who is used to being busy all the time!

 

Brooke - you said you track your days. I do the same, but on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the best. A day with rather minimal symptoms that I can manage is a 7. An 8 is a good window where I'm feeling normal with no symptoms. A 6 is a pretty low day where I'm struggling some. Haven't been below a 5 in quite some time, so that's progress! A 9 or 10 would be pretty manic for me....just want to stay balanced. I keep little notes on the chart about what I did that day that may have influenced my score to see what helps and what doesn't.  My goal each month is to have 70% of my days be in the 7-10 range. I figure that's pretty normal. Makes me feel better about the bad days when my average for a month is normal.... easier to accept the ups and downs.

[Brooke]

On 6/5/2020 at 11:51 AM, pinkfairy said:

Great topic brook.❤️
 

Speaking to myself like I would a dearest friend.Writing in a gratitude journal each day. Fresh air. Changing my diet. Therapy.Snuggling with a weighted blanket. Upcycling furniture! Planting a garden and watching it come to life. Adult colouring books. Baths. And just listening to my body. Resting when i need too. Accepting the entire situation has been a game changer. Distraction and more distraction. Paint by numbers... butterfly hug. 
There’s so much more but I will stop at this lol. Good luck on your journey ✨❤️

I'd love to know how you structure your gratitude journal. Do you free write? Make a list? When do you do it? 

 

 

[Brooke]

10 hours ago, mstimc said:

Doing anything creative that demands my attention and quiets the catastrophic thinking.  I used to do woodworking before retiring and moving to Portugal.  Since I had an office job, doing something physically creative was very fulfilling on a creative and physical level.  Since we now live in an apartment, I like taking classes online through the Great Courses, especially classes on history, religion or philosophy.  Keeping my mind engaged in positive activities is vital.

This is key for me too. What do you think it is about working with our hands that is so soothing? 

 

I'm in my 30s, and I've had an itch to learn woodworking for a while now, just to do something with my hands. 

[Brooke]

1 hour ago, Artistic1 said:

Love this question. I like to sew, read, meditate, play with my dog. Anything creative. Taking time to relax and meditate when I'm really overwhelmed also helps. That's hard for a person who is used to being busy all the time!

 

Brooke - you said you track your days. I do the same, but on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the best. A day with rather minimal symptoms that I can manage is a 7. An 8 is a good window where I'm feeling normal with no symptoms. A 6 is a pretty low day where I'm struggling some. Haven't been below a 5 in quite some time, so that's progress! A 9 or 10 would be pretty manic for me....just want to stay balanced. I keep little notes on the chart about what I did that day that may have influenced my score to see what helps and what doesn't.  My goal each month is to have 70% of my days be in the 7-10 range. I figure that's pretty normal. Makes me feel better about the bad days when my average for a month is normal.... easier to accept the ups and downs.

 

I love that someone else is doing this too! I think turning emotions into data is so powerful because it allows us to see our own progress. And because everyone has different definitions of what makes a "good" or "bad" day, it's the only way I can think of to personalize progress. 

 

What patterns have you noticed over time?

[mstimc]

42 minutes ago, Brooke said:

This is key for me too. What do you think it is about working with our hands that is so soothing? 

 

I'm in my 30s, and I've had an itch to learn woodworking for a while now, just to do something with my hands. 

I think we all have an instinctive desire to create tangible things by the work of our own hands.  Since it requires absolute attention, there's a much closer link between mind and hands than there is in any other kind of work.  

 

I started in my late 20's when we bought our first house.  We needed some bookcases to fit in a very specific space and couldn't afford to have them made, so I bought a how-to book, borrowed some of my dad's tools and went to work.  It was so enjoyable I just kept going.  These days its great because you can get good quality tools pretty cheaply (e.g Harbor Freight or Ryobi or Kobalt).  And Youtube has a ton of videos for beginners.   One of the best is "Woodworking for Mere Mortals" from Steve Ramsey.  He works out of his garage with ordinary tools and builds some really nice stuff that's not over the top.  I never got to expert level but it was very enjoyable.  And I still have all 10 fingers!  When we move back to the States, I'm going to get started again as soon as I can.

 

I think you should give to a shot! 

[Artistic1]

Hi, Brooke. I love doing data! My charts are laid out on graph paper each month, and I connect the dots between each day's score, so I have a picture of the ups and downs. I've noticed two things. When I first started out with GAD and antidepressants, my scores were all over the place. Lots of peaks and valleys on the graph, and I mean big zig zags. Over time, those have evened out to more balanced ups and downs. That tells me I've made progress in managing my symptoms. The second thing is, I write my AD dose on each month's chart, so as I change the dose, I can tell what effect it's having so I can make better decisions about tapering etc.

 

What patterns have you noticed?

[hayduke]

I forgot to mention, since I haven't been able to go since quarantine started, but yoga is extremely helpful during wds, and especially restorative yoga.  My usual class is quite meditative and the deep relaxation is a great antidote to all kinds of stress and worries.  Cheers

[pinkfairy]

22 hours ago, Brooke said:

I'd love to know how you structure your gratitude journal. Do you free write? Make a list? When do you do it? 

 

 

Hi Brooke,

I bought it off amazon for £6-£7 I think.

It laid the format out for you. You just had to fill it in. I did mine just before bed. That little book never left my side. It had a fairy on the front of the book.

It was laid out like this 

Date..

what I am grateful for..

what have I learnt from my challenges.

three things (big or small)that went well today.

three beautiful things that I have noticed throughout my day.

 

then you would get a quote at the bottom of the page.

 

~you are love and you are light ~
 

hope this helps 

[wildling]

Hi lovely warriors.

 

I’m currently in a bad wave and noticed something that has really helped me with the 24/7 panic/terror/fear. 
 

I lay on my back, take a heated microwave heat pad and put it on my chest (it feels like someone is laying there or hugging you) and then I will do this meditation:

 

 

It really seems to calm my nervous system down and for a minute I feel calm and grounded which is super important when the body is in total panic mode from morning till night. 
 

Other things that helped me during acute withdrawal phase:

- handcrafts (this was huge! I learned to crochet and knit, which is excellent distraction)

- YouTube videos (not the bad stories, but success stories, encouraging words and relaxing affirmations.)
 

Drinking plenty of water, journaling, taking epsom salt foot soaks. Trying to pull the energy from the head to the feet and root chakra. Gardening, drawing, gentle yoga and stretching. 

 

Reminding myself that everything will pass, this is not permanent, this cannot kill me, these are just anxious ruminating thoughts, this is just my brain making me think something catastrophic is about to happen. Even if I had to do it every minute. The brain is sooo stubborn. It’s like a small child “are we there yet? Are we there yet?”.

 

THIS TOO SHALL PASS. HEALING HAPPENS. NOTHING IS PERMANENT. Write it somewhere where you can see it. And just trying to survive from minute until the next. “Just a little bit more, I will make it to the next hour”. 
 

Hope this helps someone 💜