Saturday 31 October 2015

How to Switch Off Your Brain...

Some days, I think too much. By thinking too much, I put myself in a bad mood. I usually over think things like my friends not replying to me, or conversations with people where I laughed weirdly or mumbled or just said something stupid. Then, I am usually left feeling embarrassed or lonely or sad, or an awful mixture of all three. 


However, on these days, I also have some coping mechanisms, some little things I do to help shut off my brain, and either change my mood, or help me to just chill out and stop panicking about the little things.
We all have days where it gets too much for us, so I hope this 'guide' will help you on your bad days, too. 

I you read my blog regularly, or know me in person, you'll know how obsessed I am with music. I usually turn to this when I feel kind of down. I have a playlist of quiet songs, which I will listen to when I fall asleep, so I guess I will always associate these songs with relaxing and falling asleep. This playlist contains artists like Jack Cookson, Ben Howard, and Mumford and Sons, and any other quiet, relaxing music I have on my iPod. Other times, I will listen to a certain artist, or just shuffle all of my music.. Twenty One Pilots are pretty good for helping you to feel better, because a lot of the lyrics show that you're not the only one overthinking, and they basically explain your feelings waaaaay better than you can! 

But I'm sure we all also have days when music doesn't do anything, when it's all just noise and nothing sounds right. So what do you do to shut your brain off when music does nothing? As odd as this sounds, colouring really helps. Not the small child colouring, but the  more adult one, with pretty floral patterns and little intricate things.. Honestly, the repetitive action of colouring can be relaxing.. It can also be tedious, but it's quite nice sometimes. If you don't have a colouring book, try drawing... It's also pretty relaxing. 
Sometimes I will play guitar, but honestly, if I'm feeling sad, or lonely or tired, I will just not bother, because I usually get annoyed when I can't play things perfectly, and that isn't good for improving my mood. 

Something that I've been meaning to do, and did start doing, was keep a journal. If you ever need to, just vent all of your feelings down onto the page. Make it as messy or as neat as you like. Make your journal a work of art, make it messy and simultaneously beautiful. Do it for you. Every time you feel anything, just write about it. Write your thoughts down, and anything you need to remember. It will help, honestly. 

If you don't have a journal, and don't want to talk to your friends, pop over to 7CupsofTea.com and either talk in the group support chat rooms, or to a listener. It really does help, in a similar way to keeping a journal. 

The last thing I can advise is taking a nice, long shower, putting on some PJs, and curling up and reading a book or watching a movie. Take your mind off whatever might be bothering you. 

Okay, well I hope this helped. If you need to, you can find my 7 Cups profile here: http://www.7cupsoftea.com/12589327

I hope all is okay, 
- Dottie.  

No comments:

Post a Comment