We have been going through an emotional roller-coaster in the past few weeks with things getting out of hand. Naturally, this affected our mental health and our stress and anxiety levels are at the pinnacle. Something that could help us at this time is to distract and re-direct our thoughts to other things. In this blog article, I will be discussing 14 ways to distract and de-stress yourself in these difficult times. Let’s get started.
1. Positive Self-talk
Positive Self-talk can go a long way and will have a significant impact on you way more than any other external sources. This is an amazing way to pep you up instantly. Speaking to yourself in an affirmative tone such as this is temporary, you shall get through it or how proud you are of yourself for being courageous etc will have a positive impact on you.
2. Self-Care
Self-care can be highly subjective and can vary for each one of us. Some habits that have worked well for me are Journaling, Reading, Meditation, Digital Detox and Skincare. If you want to know how to get started, I have discussed each of these in detail in this article.
3. Taking Care of Plants
The joy of watching a plant grow from a tiny sapling to a full-grown plant is magical, to say the least. It symbolises hope for me in these uncertain times. It gives a different kind of happiness that you should definitely experience. Even better is if you can grow micro-greens or easy to grow vegetables, the happiness to eat your own farm grown makes you value food more. You should definitely try it out.
4. Pick up a New Hobby
Is there some activity that you always wanted to do but never got the chance? This is your time. Pick any activity and you would find a beginner tutorial for it on youtube. I personally tried playing the ukelele, started learning french on a daily (have a daily streak of 380 days as of today), tried to get back at baking, colouring and learnt some basic sketching on Procreate App.
5. Dance to Your Favourite Music
This is an instant pep me up. Swaying to your favourite music genre will help you release all the feel-good hormones instantly cheering you up. My favourite style to dance to peppy Bollywood music. Comment below your favourite genre :)
6. Indulge in Some Aromatherapy
Essential oils such as Rose, Lavender, Peppermint are beneficial in raising your spirits too. Put a few drops of your favourite essential oil in a diffuser filled with water and enjoy the aroma. Double it with your favourite beverage, sip and relax.
7. Talk to someone
Humans are social animals. Being stuck in the four walls of the house has definitely affected our social nature. If you feel overwhelmed or anxious, sharing your thoughts with a trusted family member or a friend and getting it all of your minds would surely put it in a better mood and relax.
8. Unfollow, Mute and Block
Social media can be a toxic place. Observe and process if you come across certain accounts that induce anger or any kind of negative emotion in you. If so, immediately take action to either mute, unfollow or block them.
9. Express Yourself
This could be in the form of writing a blog article expressing what you’re going through, or writing a poem, song story, composing a song, or artwork. Expressing yourself is a great way to get a perspective. It will also let you ease out your feelings and emotions and will help you relax.
10. Breathe
Breathing mindfully for a minute can help you relax. Keep a timer for a minute, inhale and exhale as slowly and deeply as you can. It will lower your heart rate and help you relax. Do this at regular intervals throughout the day.
11. Listen to an Uplifting Podcast
Podcasts are the future of infotainment. There are some wonderful creators posting amazing content. Listening to some uplifting ones would surely change your mood. If you have already tried a few, it would be great if you can share some of your favourites in the comments section below.
12. Cook your favourite meal
Involving yourself completely in making your favourite meal from dicing the vegetables to actual cooking can be a great way to de-stress yourself. The joy of having a warm home-cooked meal is a sure shot mood uplifter.
13. Declutter and Organise your Phone or Laptop
Cleaning your surroundings instantly makes you feel better and calmer. If you do this for your phones and laptops too, I guarantee you will feel so much better. We are usually hoarding unnecessary forwards, screenshots, applications that we know we are never going to make use of. So, deleting them should make perfect sense. You will definitely feel better and in the bargain, your phone or laptop will also perform better.
14. Do a fun online course
Online courses can be super fun. Skillshare for example a number of fun courses that are as short as 30m to 1hr. You could take up courses on origami, art, gardening, embroidery, knitting, baking, song-writing, quilling. This is a great way to distract yourself and learn something new and fun at the same time.
I’m hoping you will try at least one of these 14 ways, and I would be happy to know your thoughts in the comments section below. If you enjoy such content, do consider subscribing so you get notified every time I post a new blog.
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