What I'm Reading This Week #24
Sup y'all! Welcome to flop sweat season (and Friday!) I hope you had a good week and stayed cool. I had to wave the flag and pull all of the 'impatiens' I grew from seed as that is not the plant I apparently bought. I'm still going round with the people I got them from because dammit, I want a refund. So I had to go to the nursery and get regular impatiens to replace the ones I pulled. It's already nicer to see actual color instead of looking out everyday and wonder WTF they're going to turn into other than some rando plant with a thick, juicy stem. Not that the ones I got look a ton better as they too are leggy. I don't know what the deal is with that. I also grabbed some chives half off to plant with the zinnias to keep the aphids at bay. Who knows if it'll actually work or not, we'll see. Now let's see: 9 Foot Exercises to Try at Home (I've been doing these over the last week and oochie owie for my weak azz feet...
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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