I recently had my first breakdown of the year and it came out of nowhere. All of the little things that had bothered me, but I never did anything about, suddenly grew to become my life’s biggest problems in a matter of minutes. I was left in my room alone, crying (picture Kim K. crying for best visual image), wondering how I was going to get through it all. This feeling probably isn’t a stranger to most, but for me it was as uncharacteristic as passing free food and not grabbing one of everything. Absolutely unheard of.
I did what any of us would do and texted my friends for support, that’s what they’re there for! They all assured me that this was a normal feeling (ugh!) and it’s okay to cry it out. I figured that since it’s my senior year and realistically I have no plans for my life after graduating (I know we’re all in the same boat here), I would most likely be having another meltdown…probably sooner than later. So, before I try to rock the swollen, blood shot eyes look to class again, I decided to test out some ways to de-stress myself and these are my favorites! Just in time to master them before finals too!
Running
Motivating myself to start exercising was a task in itself, but once I got going and had my Pandora Dance Cardio Radio on, it was hard to stop. Running has been proven to be a great way to escape the stress of life, and while my mind was wandering aimlessly, my body was releasing those endorphins!
See your BFF
Okay, my BFF lives in Tennessee, so I couldn’t necessarily make this happen, but I did the next best thing…cuddled with my roommate! Meet up with someone that you know can cheer you up! Maybe it’s their terrible jokes or their inspirational “life will get better” speeches that do the trick, but I know you have at least one person that totally gets what a “SOS, I can’t handle this” face looks like!
Guided Visualization
There are so many ways you can go about this! The internet has a bunch of free guided meditations that you can choose from or you can just tune your music to sounds of nature. Lighting a candle helped me create a relaxing environment, and while concentrating on breathing in and out through my nose, I instantly became calmer and in a happier mood! (Works well when you’re a little PO’d too!)
Crafting
For a lack of a better term I called this crafting because all I do is just cover a canvas in paint, over and over…and over again. For those who are more artistic than myself, you might find something better to make than seeing what kind of shade of blue this much yellow and green makes! Whatever you decide to Mod Podge together, don’t forget to throw some glitter on it!
Take a bath or shower
Not only am I refreshed and motivated after, but I do my best thinking in the shower. I have come up with some pretty spectacular ways on how to scrounge up a little extra cash or techniques on how to tackle the pile of homework that hasn’t made its way out of my bag yet, all while I was rinsing and repeating.
Kissing
To be honest I only read that this works, but I believe it 100%. I was tempted to give this one a try, you know, for the sake of research, but decided against my better judgement not to. Maybe next time, guy in the red sweatshirt on the 4th floor in Dimond, around 6 pm on November 10th. #UNHCrushes