Spring makes me think of change. I love this season — the bursting forth of that which was hidden, but growing and moving under the surface this whole time. The lush greens that come back. The dripping rain off the trees.
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about transformation. I’ve been experiencing more panic and anxiety than I ever remember feeling. Maybe it’s the political climate, maybe it’s my personal body chemistry, maybe it’s all the changes — who knows. But it all has me asking, how do I cultivate more transformation in my life, in my body? How do I change an energetic or emotional state that I’m in, while still honoring that state, not pushing it away?
I’ve got a small list of things I’m keeping in my notebook, and going to it when I feel myself in that frenzied state:
- Writing down everything I’m feeling in a fast-write, or in a letter to a particular person (that I won’t send)
- Calling or texting a friend and asking them to lend an ear, to listen to me
- Doing some alternative nostril breathing
- Doing some tapping
- Calling my therapist for a phone session
- Going through the steps of The Work, Byron Katie’s theory for a stronger and happier mind
- Distracting myself with a good book (currently it’s the romance novel How Not To Fall by Emily Foster which, I will absolutely admit, I am loving a lot) or with a good TV show (I’ve been watching through the seasons of Mad Men that I missed)
- Putting my face/head into a bowl of ice (okay, I haven’t actually tried this one, but my therapist suggested it, and guarantees it works to change one’s state of mind. I’m holding it for when I really need a jump-start!)
- Drinking detox tea, or doing other things to detoxify my body, like going to a sauna, scrubbing my skin, eating extra vegetables
I don’t usually do all of them, but sometimes I have to go down the list to three or four before I feel better. Do you have particular things you do when you notice your emotional state spiraling out?
Lots of love,
Zed