I’m sure a lot of people can relate when I say, I’m a worrier. My brain just seems to enjoy worrying about everything, even when there is nothing to worry about. In fact, when there is less to actually worry about, my mind tends to go off on tangents of worrying about everything possible. This is something I am really working to rectify after the dentist told me I need to chill out because it is causing me to grind my teeth a lot! Thus, I am trying to stop being a worrier, and focus on being a warrior instead. If you are also someone who tends to worry, why not come along with me on my mission to CHILL OUT! These are a couple of things I am doing in order to chill out. Get off my phone!!! I am a natural fidget. For example, I struggle to fully focus on watching something as my brain constantly jumps from one thing to another. If my brain isn’t in full concentration mode, I have to be doing something else at the same time, be it working or looking at my phone. However, I want to step away from falling into the default of picking up my phone as I find this sends sensations of being on edge through my brain. I therefore had a think about other things I could do when I get tempted to reach for my phone. One thing that came into my mind was colouring. I have therefore purchased a colouring book. When I feel the need to do something with my hands, I pick that up instead. I find it surprisingly therapeutic and my brain does completely switch off. Instead of watching tv, I also always have a book on the go. I am a big reader, but sometimes get out of the habit of doing it, so I always have a book on the go. This also helps reduce the amount of quick moving stimulation that I expose my brain to. If I am out and about walking somewhere, I try to focus on taking in my surroundings instead of scrolling through my phone. This helps me to be in the moment and can have a very grounding and peaceful effect. Otherwise, by using my brain, I am always shifting my focus to where I could be or what someone else is doing instead of being in the here and now. Slow down and breathe.
On a daily basis, I tend to rush from one thing to another, even when I do not have a jam-packed day. As a result, my brain is always operating at 100 miles an hour, even if there is nothing specific going through it. If I am able to force myself to stop for 10 minutes, more often than not, I feel as though I should be doing something else. This is where I am working to remove the constant sense of urgency I feel. When I ask myself, what am I rushing for? The answer is, just to get everything done. Ultimately though, everything is never done. There is always something hanging over us. This is just life. Therefore it causes you to feel as though life is out of control as you are asking an impossible task of yourself. It is a mission destined to fail. I therefore remind myself that things will happen when they happen and I do not constantly need to be rushing. Nobody minds if you are on time rather than 15 minutes early, if this means you slow down when driving to your location. Your safety and wellbeing comes above any need for urgency. In these situations, when my brain is on 2x speed, I pause, take some deep breaths, ask myself if there is any actual need to be rushing, and go again, at a slower pace. Say no. If someone has asked me to do something and fitting it in is going to be a stress because I don’t really have the time, I am learning that it is ok to say no. It doesn’t make me a bad person and it doesn’t mean I don’t care about them, it just means I need to prioritise other things. In the long run, saying no also allows me to be a better friend/partner/daughter in the long run. We don’t have to cram our day full from morning until night, it is ok to take it slightly slower and fill the day with enough things that we can feel satisfyingly busy, but do those things to the best of our ability without feeling overloaded. Those close to you will completely understand your need to do this. Accept my thoughts. When I feel my thoughts getting overwhelming and becoming quite intrusive, it can be very easy to fight them in order to get them to go away. However, I try not to fight them, but instead listen to them. They are there for a reason and are usually trying to warn me of something. Every thought is a valid one and pushing it away does not tend to make it go away quicker, but instead prolong the amount of time it bothers you. When I notice an uncomfortable thought emerging, I listen to it and follow where it is going. What is it trying to tell me? Where do these thoughts lead to? It can help to write the thoughts down as you unpack them if you do not have someone to take them through with. Do the thoughts come with an image/story in your head? If so, go into as much detail about what you can see. You don’t need to necessarily understand exactly what they are saying, but if you can give time to them, you often diminish the intensity of them. You can essentially accept them and thank them for warning you that you are not quite feeling yourself, in turn helping you move on more. None of these points are ground breaking things you won’t have heard of, but when stacked together and employed on a daily basis, they can really make the world of difference. If you have found this blog helpful, drop a comment and let me know what related to you most.
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Hannah IrwinI love to run and I love to write, so I write about running! Archives
March 2023
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