I was asked on my Facebook page to write a blog post on ways to recharge when feeling overwhelmed. I immediately accepted and took the challenge to pay close attention to what I do when I am overwhelmed. Here are my top 10 ways I recharge when I am feeling overwhelmed:
1. Take stillness breaks throughout the day. This practice has helped me a lot, especially while at work. I get extremely overwhelmed at work and sometimes taking a few minutes to just be can help clear my mind. 2. Take a walk. If you can, take a walk. Walking and any other form of exercise releases the "feel good" chemicals in your brain. Also, physically removing yourself from a negative situation can make a huge difference. I take walks when I am having issues, especially issues at home. I just take a 5-10 minute walk in my neighborhood and I typically calm down. 3. Start journaling (or blogging!) I used to write in a diary about my issues. I decided to start blogging when I was diagnosed with PTSD. I wanted to share my experiences and struggles with the world, so that way people who suffer the same issue can see that they are not alone. I still currently write in a journal when I need to vent out my thoughts (and when I do not want to share it on my blog.) Sometimes just writing down your thoughts can help you feel better. 4. Go on a small hiatus. I typically struggle with social media, Facebook in particular. I get anxiety and feel extremely overwhelmed with social media sometimes, so I tend to take social media hiatuses. Going on a hiatus isn't specifically focused on social media, you can take a hiatus from work, people, and so many other things. Stay off the radar for a while. Take a break from reality. There's a huge chance you will feel better afterwards. 5. Do something creative. What creative things do you like to do? For me, I loved to write so I started my own blog and decorated it to my liking. Each post has a picture or slide show at the beginning and if I so please, I can add images wherever i like. Other creative things I like to do are collage, make vision boards, and now I have an interest in making zines. (Thanks Cushy!) In the past, I made my own affirmation cards. When I am doing something creative, I get so focused on my task I forget why I was overwhelmed. 6. Read Affirmations. Speaking of my affirmation cards, I customized my cards to fit my life. I pick an affirmation card daily. (Sometimes I pick more than one.) I read the affirmation and do everything in my ability to remember it and live it. Reading affirmations helps me remember that not everything is bad. Reading them has drastically changed my mood throughout the day. When I don't read them on a daily basis I notice a huge difference. 7. Jam out to an awesome song full blast! Music is known to affect people's moods. Something I've done my whole life has been listen to my favorite song over and over on full blast. Sometimes a jam session is all I need to relax. The best part about this one is it can be done almost anywhere! Next time you need to recharge try it and see the difference. 8. Meditate or work out Earlier, I talked about taking stillness breaks throughout the day. Now, I'm going to talk about taking it a bit further and fully meditate on the subject. Be mindful of what it is that is making you feel overwhelmed and decide if it is really worth your time and energy. If you are like me, and you struggle with meditation at times, my best advice is go to the gym (or exercise at home).As I mentioned before, exercise releases the "feel good" chemicals in your brain and it's likely that you won't dwell on what was bothering you. 9. Have social interaction (with humans!) Another way you can recharge is spending time with people you actually like. This is a HUGE one for me because I am such a loner and homebody I hardly see people outside of work. This is mainly by choice, but it is also because my work schedule doesn't comply with anybody else's. I often get lonely and that in and of itself overwhelms me. Sometimes a girls night out or just hanging out with friends helps. Make sure the people you hang out with have a positive vibe. People with negative vibes will make you feel worse than you did before. 10. Do Acts of Kindness In November, I made it my mission to do an act of kindness a day. The smallest act of kindness can make someone's day go from negative to positive in seconds. Not only that, it makes the giver feel great as well. Doing this for the month of November and December changed my mood drastically. I felt happy doing kind things for others. Give it a try and see how you feel.
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