Throwing Away the Crutches
Hello all. This is a vulnerable one. In case you're wondering about the title, it's not referencing my newly pulled back that occurred while dumping out a bag of mulch Sunday night. Not lifting it... dumping it. It's been a week full of back braces and squishy ice packs . Yay. Saturday I forced a weigh in, at least for myself. We basically haven't weighed in since January. From that point on it was dealing with holiday weight gain and all of our projects (bathroom reno, finishing that reno, carpet installation on the stairs, work instability (still going on) then the never-ending saga with the water coming in on the subfloor/roof hole, etc) so our lives were just fitting in walks where we could when it was cooler. We actually did that quite a bit until the weather got unbearable. When I had to go in for my vulvoscopy June 3rd, I accidentally caught a glimpse at my weight and it leveled me. I was 10 lbs higher than when we came bac...
I have a hard time shutting my brain off when I want to sleep sometimes but usually reading a book at night does the trick - though I admit sometimes I end up reading a lot longer than I might want to before it works.
ReplyDeleteI've tried that and it does seem to help a little but then as you know, I wake up in the middle of the night and the hamster puts on some ONJ and gets Physical on the wheel.
DeleteLike the Mr., I like to read in bed before attempting to sleep. It definitely helps to quiet my brain and get me to relax, but the selection of book definitely matters. The book needs to be fiction, engaging, but not too exciting. I also try to set a time limit as to how long I will read, about a half hour, and will include it in my bedtime routine. That way I am still turning off the light at my preferred time.
ReplyDeleteOutside of bedtime two ways that I am able to mentally relax is to take a hot shower and focus only on how the water feels on my body and to sit by a large body of water, focusing on the movement of the water. It helps that I live near the Atlantic Ocean.
I too have struggled to be in the moment in more intimate situations. One thing that has helped me is to focus on what I feel under my hands, the different textures available to me, finding something soft, smooth, calming, which brings me back into the moment. I'll also be honest about what is running through my head, usually something silly or completely random, and we will laugh about it, which helps us reconnect.
So happy you have a nice body of water close by to enjoy! (We have a sea of orange barrels in every direction for about 20 miles) Those are good tips and I will give those a try.
DeleteThis is where the mindfulness meditation helps me
ReplyDeleteI sooo wish I could meditate. Last night I literally apologized 6x praying from my thoughts wandering even when I was talking to Grandma after. LOL I did try again this morning. Something I really need to super focus on.
DeleteI'm about 50/50 on this. When I'm really upset about something it's hard to put it out of my mind completely. But whether it's been a stressful day or a regular okay day, I always, always play a funky solitaire game on my Fire. I do this to help relax, to distract, and to calm down if I'm on overload. I usually have the game music turned off too because sometimes that can be annoying to hear if I'm amped up. Like Browren above, if I'm by water, like a lake up north, all my stress and thoughts go out the window because I'm able to just focus on the sounds of the water and any bird or animal noises nearby, and my breathing becomes more steady and regulated.
ReplyDeleteOn the bad days I will do an Italian lesson and/or pop bubble wrap. When we were on Long Island, it was easy to relax sitting on the beach-- even when I ended up in the water fully clothed I still laughed about it. I need an ocean or lake near me!
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