We all have our bad days. These are not the days when something truly tragic has happened or something that is newsworthy. They are the days when life buffs against us with reality sandpaper. It’s painful and we wish what was happening wasn’t happening, but wishing doesn’t change anything.
- Nest – as a sensitive person look for somewhere that you can seek sanctuary. For some spaces that are enclosed will feel like sanctuary and for others nature will be a welcome sanctuary. Allow yourself the sanctuary that you need, even if that needs to be at the end of your working day.
- Don’t generalise – a bad day doesn’t make a bad life. Remember some of the really good days that you have had and remember going forward that time is a great healer.
- Indulge mindfully – a whole pint of ice-cream is just going to make you feel worse in the end but smaller treats that you close mindfully can be used to help to shore your spirits.
- Feel it out – Decide how you want to feel. Danielle La Porte talks a lot about this in ‘The Desire Map.’ Brooke Castillo, Master Life Coach trainer, has it as an important part of the model she teaches. She then goes on as part of this model to get you to ask yourself what thoughts would you need to be having about the situation to feel the way that you want to feel. Write a list of these thoughts. Repeat this when you find yourself going back into a cycle of negativity.
- Tune out – on a bad day the Instagram happy world isn’t what you really need. Even though it feels numbing it isn’t really helping.
- Get outside and go somewhere beautiful if you can. Being in a beautiful environment can help you to be more in the moment as you enjoy your present view rather than going over and over when has happened in your head.
- Breathe – when your mind starts to race slow your breathe and concentrate on it going in and out. You don’t even have to call it meditation. It’s just a way of centring yourself.
- Reach out – call a friend / someone you trust. Take the time to talk about how you are feeling. Remember that they probably won’t be able to fix things for you but just my being a witness they are helping you.
- Lie low – if you can then realise that today is not the day for putting yourself under the spotlight. Your next You Tube video recording can wait.
- Be grateful – yup, super tough to do and I can see you’re rolling your eyes at me. I am not going to say write a big gratitude list and do the gratitude dance of joy. Pick one small thing. Get yourself a flower that you like and be grateful for that or wear perfume, smell it and be grateful for that. A tiny step of gratitude is a step in the right direction.
- Water it down – bubble bath, local pool, by a lake, by the sea….
- Tune up – listen or play music that you love.
- Sleep – on a bad day get to bed early. The bad day will be shorter then and you will have more energy and more positivity the following day. Read Arianna’s book on this if you need convincing.
- Pat a pet – they usually love you whatever has happened. If you have a four-legged friend you could also enjoy a walk with them as your non-judgemental companion.
- Novel solution – read a cosy novel that involved you in the day-to-day of someone else.
- Ask your wisest self- Write a letter to yourself from the wisest part of yourself who believes in you even through the bad days.
- Challenge yourself – Mihaly Csiksgentmihalyi in his book ‘Flow’ says that we achieve a state of flow more often when there is an element of challenge in what we are doing so to take your mind off what is bothering you engage in an activity that offers you a good amount of challenge without overwhelming you.
- Nourish – make sure that you eat healthily to balance your blood sugar and so help yourself to stabilise your emotions.
- Hydrate – keeping hydrated also helps the brain to perform and you to cope better on difficult days.
- Move mindfully – yoga, tai chi, ballet These can help to bring you back into awareness of your body which again can stop worrying thoughts from spinning.
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