Some days are full of light and warmth. During those days it’s hard to go to sleep because you don’t want the day to end. However, there are other days where nothing goes right and all you can think is “Wow, can this day get any worse?”
When emotions like sadness, frustration, and anger from a bad day linger. They can take a toll on both your mind and your body. Most of us want to feel better and lift ourselves out of our funk. Here are some simple self-care practices that you can start to make a bad day better and help you look forward to tomorrow:
Take A Walk Through Your Neighborhood
We all love being in our own world, whether that be in a house, a dorm, or an apartment. But sometimes that world is too small. When we spend a lot of time in one area, it can be easy to go in circles with our thoughts. Though our homes come in all different sizes, our thoughts can become overwhelming when we let ourselves be alone with them when we are somewhere familiar.
In trying to combat this, a walk through your neighborhood can expand your perspective. Being outside is a great reminder that the world is a lot bigger than four walls. Many times, people can get stuck thinking that they are the only people going through something hard, but when they go outside, they remember that there’s a whole world out there to be explored.
Dance and Listen To Music
Now, not all of us are professionally trained dancers, and maybe we aren’t even good dancers, but dancing regardless of skill level, can still be fun and a good way to burn off some negative energy. When we dance, it takes a lot of focus because you need to be aware of how your body is moving and how you interact with the space around you. It can move your mind away from all of the bad energy surrounding your day.
Instead of focusing on negative emotions that can get the best of you, get lost in the rhythm and the melody. Sometimes, we all need to turn our brains off, and listening to music while dancing can help give our brains a break from constantly absorbing the world around us.
Cook a Meal with Family or Friends
Bad days can feel like they will go on forever, but sometimes even when you can’t fix the day, you can still find joy in the little things. Food is a constant factor in our everyday lives on a basic level, but it is also part of our communal life. Making food with the people you love allows you to be reminded of your support system, especially when we all tend to get lost in our day doing multiple kinds of tasks.
This can be true if you make a meal or a snack that you haven’t had in a while because that can give you something to look forward to. Having something to look forward to on a day when you are feeling bad can help the day move quicker and introduce happier emotions. When it comes time to make the food, you have your loved ones and great food around, which has the power to bring a smile to your face.
All of these methods are great starting points for helping you out of a bad day. They give you ideas for a first step, and that might be all you need. There will always be days when you can’t find the light at the end of the tunnel, but have faith that we will always come out on the other side.