Feeling Down? Find What Will Bring You Back Up

We all have days where we feel low energy and are feeling a bit more negative than usual. On days like these, it’s important to first recognize that it’s okay to feel this way and that it won’t last forever. I am also learning that finding quick and easy ways to get a burst of dopamine also isn’t helpful. I’ve noticed that I look at my phone 10x more often when I’m feeling like this, not even realizing that I just keep going through the same apps over and over again.

Thankfully, I’m starting to recognize that I do this and that it’s not helping me at all. After this realization, I started to ponder what will actually get me in a good mood and I wanted to share these ideas with you

1. Get up and move

It doesn’t really matter how or where or what you do, but moving will immediately force your thoughts to keep moving forward. Also, any amount of endorphins will change your mood for the better.

I will do anything from putting in a load of laundry to going on a hike so I don’t stay in a rut. It might take a while to become self-aware and realize what you’re doing is negatively affecting you, but once you are able to recognize it the next step is to physically move out of it.

2. Make yourself laugh

I laugh at myself all the time, whether it’s because I did something stupid or because I think a joke I made was really funny… but sometimes I forget this “talent” when I’m feeling down. A couple of tricks I use (which may not be for everyone) is to dance like an idiot by myself or around my boyfriend. I also will break into character and sing terribly, but it usually makes me laugh.

3. Make someone smile

Nothing feels better than making another person smile or laugh, so sometimes when you can’t do it for yourself, try doing it for someone else! I’m lucky to have quite a few #1 fans of mine (my family) that I find super easy to entertain. It’s also easy to show love towards them which will obviously make them smile.

4. Be spontaneous

Perhaps you’ve just become bored out of your mind and that’s why you want to stay on the couch all day. This is the perfect time to think outside the box to switch up what you’ve gotten used to. For example, one day I made a living room picnic to surprise my boyfriend when he came home. I put down a blanket, put out place mats, poured some beer, and lit a candle. We ate leftover pizza… Nothing fancy at all but it became fun because I switched up our routine.

5. Find reliable mood changers

There are a few things that will immediately get me in a better mood other than the above that I can always rely on. This includes going on a drive with loud music (my boyfriend and I often do this when we are feeling down), meeting up with friends even if I “don’t feel like it”, going out for dinner instead of cooking (restaurants in Kelowna are opening back up now! Yay!), and phone calls with my #1 fans.

I hope these ideas will help you get out of the dopamine rush you are looking for and provide a genuine, positive feeling. I would love to hear how you get yourself back up after feeling down in the comments below!

Binging Netflix? Here’s How to Stop

We’ve all had a show on Netflix that has sucked us in without knowing it. Maybe you found a show that’s “only 20 minutes long” … 3 hours later you realize the power of the binging vortex. Well if you’re like me, I feel extra lazy after doing something like that and a wee bit of guilt. Not only is it a bad feeling that you’ve wasted time, but it’s likely that you aren’t going to eat well afterwards either, and thus, feel worse. Here’s what you can try to do to avoid binge watching Netflix.

1. Delete Netflix

What?! How could I?! Well I figured I would start out with the most obvious answer that you probably don’t want to hear. Now, let’s move on…

2. Choose Wisely

Try to find a show that has less binge-worthy potential. For example, maybe watch a movie one night or a short Netflix Original rather than something that has 12 seasons and 25 episodes per season. Also, maybe choose something positive and funny or educational rather than something that will add more negativity to your life like learning about a serial killer. You already feel bad about watching a ton of TV, no need to also feel bad about humanity afterwards too. Of course, this is subjective, I personally like watching happier shows.

3. Limit When You Watch

Perhaps choose a day of the week that you will watch your show to leave room for excitement. Just like the good ol’ days, when we didn’t have access to everything all at once. You could set a timer to limit how much you watch too.

Also, an option that always works well for me is to have someone that is watching the show with you. My boyfriend is wonderful at only wanting to watch TV occasionally as he usually finds better things to do. With my out-of-this-world loyalty, I would never watch the next episode of our show without him.

4. Find Something Better to Do

There must be a reason why you’d like to stop binge watching Netflix… otherwise you wouldn’t have read this post. Whatever it is that you wish you would do instead of get sucked into the couch, go ahead and do those things. Easier said than done I know… So maybe you need something that gives you what TV gives you. Relaxation, entertainment, whatever it is… find something else that will give you the satisfaction.

We spend so much time on screens that I think we all know it would be best for us to find hobbies that don’t involve a screen. Some examples are: cooking, exercising, colouring (seriously, pick up an adult colouring book asap), painting, journalling, talking to a friend, talking to your family, playing with your pet if you have one, gardening… the list goes on.

5. Decide When to Binge

Now this sounds easier right?! Make the choice that you are going to binge and commit to a number of shows or hours… All of a sudden you will feel liberated from all of the guilt! The problem is that we usually don’t plan to binge, it just happens. We accidentally let the “Next Episode” countdown go without stopping it. So instead of suffering about the bad choices you are making, just make one huge bad choice and let it happen! Yay!

Conclusion

All jokes aside, there will be times that you fall into a rut where you keep wasting your time binge watching Netflix. If you have any sort of will power, I believe trying a few of the tips above will help you get out of that rut.

However, if you truly cannot stop and you really want to, you might need to go cold turkey and delete it all together. There’s so much more to life than sitting on a couch and watching TV, and it can be hard to see that when that is all we are doing.

Travel Like a Child

Growing up, my parents took us on a trip out of the country about once a year. For this post, I want to compare a trip to Mexico as a child to my most recent trip to Mexico only a few months ago. It wasn’t until this past trip that I started thinking deeply about how different my mind worked as a child, and how annoying it is to be an adult!

When I think back to what I paid attention to as a child, it was so positive and innocent. I remember being so excited to wake up early in the morning to go to the airport, and how cool it was to have a surprise meal on the plane. When I got off the plane, there was a gust of humid, tropical smelling air and that’s when I knew I was officially in Mexico.

It didn’t matter what the resort looked like, as long as there was a beach and a pool to play in. My brother and I would have so much fun in the pool, I don’t even remember what exactly we would be doing – I just remember it being fun. We would play in the waves in the ocean, and help my dad build some sort of sand castle. My mom and I would have fun looking at different souvenirs and jewelry and would try to leave Mexico with something matching.

The food was delicious and I liked saying “Hola!” to every staff member in the resort. I remember being fascinated with the entertainment staff, and loved watching the evening shows. I had no sense of time, didn’t know where I was in the world, and didn’t seem to have negative thoughts about anything.

There are certain things in adulthood that are beneficial to have during travel such as knowledge of the destination and the safety required during the trip, but a lot of things are unnecessary. What I noticed on this past trip is that I was aware of the money I spent and the value of what we were paying for. I struggled to wake up early and immediately felt more nervous than excited for the airport because I was thinking about all of the things that could go wrong. We didn’t get a complimentary meal on the flight and we didn’t want to spend the money to purchase a meal.

The airport in Mexico was chaos and filled with people trying to rip you off, or say that their shuttle was cheaper than the company we were supposed to go with. On the way to the resort I noticed labour workers walking down the highway and wondered how they make a living and what they might be struggling with. I was still excited to see the resort, but immediately started planning and organizing.

I was thinking about when we should eat, finding out when the evening shows were, what excursions to do and when, and was just overall concerned about making the most out of our trip. When we went into town, I noticed people trying to sell drugs and wondered how the economy worked (since every store sells basically the same thing) and I was overwhelmed about what I wanted to buy and where. I was thinking about applying sunscreen enough and making sure we wouldn’t miss the bus back to the resort. At the resort I had a hard time relaxing and wanted to make sure I did everything that I remember being fun as a child. There were still lots of laughs and fun times on this trip, but I just wanted to point out how different it was compared to when I was a child.

Now that I have been stuck at home in quarantine, I’m starting to realize how unimportant most things I worry about are. I can’t believe how uptight I was on my trip to Mexico, perhaps it was because I only had one week and I hadn’t been out of the country in four years… but it’s also because I didn’t take a step back to appreciate where I was and to just enjoy the moment.

I remember learning at a mindfulness seminar that one method to live in the present was to think like a child. In this case once I entered my room in the resort, rather than thinking about what we need to accomplish during the trip, I could have switched over to noticing the cute little shampoos at the sink and the balcony overlooking the palm trees. Of course this is easier said than done, but I think with some practice travelling could be a lot more enjoyable. Notice the things you are stressing about, take a deep breathe, and find your inner child.

Do it Now, Do it Now, Do it Now!

This quote from a Lululemon bag has been stuck in my head for years now. It’s very simple and doesn’t seem to hold a lot of meaning when you just read it once. In addition to this quote, a similar thing that stuck with me is a concept that Mel Robbins has been teaching the world, which is the power and the science behind making 5 second decisions. She found that once we have a gut feeling about what we need to do to make something happen, it only takes 5 seconds for our mind to start defending itself and protecting us from any potential dangers.

It can be anything from very small decisions to very big decisions, but either way, I absolutely believe “doing it now” without giving your brain enough time to think of why you shouldn’t is a great way to get things done. For example, if you want the dishes to be done before you go to bed so you can wake up to a clean kitchen, just go do them. If you wait to long your mind might say, “well I could just do them tomorrow morning, I would rather keep watching TV.” How does this make any difference at all? Well in the morning, you will wake up to a pile of dishes which is bound to make you feel lazy and/or put you in a negative mood. You might end up leaving them to do later, keep adding more dishes, and by the time you actually do them it takes an hour to clean and you have just lost time to yourself, not to mention how awful it would be to wash dishes for an entire hour.

Mel Robbins said she started with counting down from 5 in the mornings to help her wake up to her alarm, rather than hitting snooze multiple times. How easy is it to tell yourself the night before that you want to “wake up early and be more productive,” but when the time comes all of a sudden you hear the alarm, then think “oh yeah I wanted to wake up early today” …followed by, “but I feel tired and it’s warm in here and I don’t NEED to wake up?” Most of the time we know what we need to do to make changes, and that being lazy and putting things off never feels good in the end. I think by making these small changes, it can lead to the bigger changes you have been hoping to accomplish.

What Makes A Morning Person? Scientists Identify New Genetics ... — Source: https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/what-makes-a-morning-person-scientists-identify-new-genetics-behind-early-risers

I decided to write about this today because this morning I didn’t wake up when I said I would, had to do all of the dishes from the day before, couldn’t find anything to wear since the laundry has piled up, was too lazy to workout, didn’t want to write a blog, and just didn’t feel like doing anything in general. Luckily, I remembered this quote and realized I needed to meditate to change my mindset. I meditated for 4 minutes just listening to my breaths.

For the past few days, I’ve said I want to wake up early with my boyfriend who is still going to work, to meditate in the mornings to start my day with a positive mindset, and to exercise to keep up with my physical health. After I meditated, my negative thoughts changed and I realized I have been doing a lot of “thinking” and not a lot of “doing.” I don’t think it’s possible to always remember this rule every second of the day, however, it is something to keep in the back of your mind for when you are feeling unmotivated. I’m glad I had the morning I did, otherwise I would have been stuck in a lazy and unmotivated routine for more than just a couple of days. When I had the thought again that I should write a blog today, I just stood up, went to the computer, and started writing. It’s as easy as that! Don’t give your brain time to talk yourself out of doing something productive.

If you are reading this, I challenge you to stick to your decisions and act on them before the 5 second window approaches especially during quarantine where you can lose motivation in a split second. Start small, and perhaps this will help you with bigger, more uncomfortable decisions in your life.