Hi my lovely chickpeas! It’s actually currently Tuesday as I write this intro, but I was feeling particularly inspired. So, the past couple days I haven’t been feeling too hot. It’s mostly mental, but as it often happens, the mental bleeds into the physical. The past two days I slept until 10am (and even overslept through one of my classes accidentally) despite getting enough sleep prior to that.
The biggest thing, though, is just that I felt off. I’ve talked before on here about feeling out of sorts and what helps me in those moments, but every time it happens, it still knocks the wind out of me. I will say, I feel much more at peace now with the negative feelings that sometimes happen because I remember getting through them in the past. But in these past few days, as much as I sought to embrace these feelings for what they are and just breathe and smile through them, I just didn’t WANT to feel blah.
And so, I did everything I could think of to feel better. I practiced gratitude, did yoga, meditated, talked to my friends and family, and treated myself extra-kindly. At first, nothing really worked. Or it did, but only temporarily. But today after coming across just the right articles and podcast episodes and also really reminding myself of how exciting and magical life is (and how that excitement is accessible to me even when everything feels mundane and boring), I felt worlds better.
Here are a few things that really turned my funk around; maybe they’ll help you too!
20 Simple Ways to Create Joy
You all know I adore Georgie, and this list she put together is awesome! Not every one of these will apply to you and your own version of joy, perhaps, but I am SURE at least a few will.
Yoga
I have been LOVING yoga the past few months, as I’ve mentioned countless times. But while I normally do 1 or 2 videos, balancing it with other workouts, this week my body has been craving yoga pretty much exclusively. While in the past I used to ignore that desire, thinking yoga was “not enough” to serve as my exercise for the entire week, I absolutely do not think that anymore. Firstly, any movement is good, and our bodies certainly do not crave strenuous intense movement (and are not made for that) on a rigid regular basis. Some weeks, all they need is walking and yoga, and so you need to trust that they know exactly what they’re doing, and give them what they want.
But secondly, yoga can absolutely be a WORKOUT. Because it’s all about mindfulness and being right there with your body, I’ve gotten more of a burn and muscle fatigue from some yoga videos than I have from weight training. Crazy, right?! Here are a couple videos I did recently and loved. They all added a little extra intention and presence to my day.
Compassion Yoga- Core Strength Vinyasa
Another 45 Minute Power Vinyasa Flow
How To Create Joy Today
SUCH a great resource when you’re feeling down. I bookmarked it and saved it for a future rainy day. I love that the tips here are all mindset-related, or at least internally focused. Meaning, even if things aren’t going your way, you have control over how you feel about it.
How To Find Joy in Every Day + 20 Things That Bring Me Joy
Dug up this old post of my very own, and it actually really helped me to look back on it. I highly recommend making a list of things that bring you joy to consult when the going gets tough.
Chasing Joy Podcast episode 49
I specifically went back to listen to this one because I remembered bits and pieces from it and felt intuitively that it would make me feel better. And guess what? It was EXACTLY what I needed to hear. Amanda is absolutely amazing, and she really talked about this idea of finding alignment from within and letting go of any expectations or pressures to feel a certain way. The whole episode is about joy and enjoyment and appreciation, and if that doesn’t give you the warm fuzzies, I don’t know what will.
My Instagram post
I put up this post on Wednesday when I finally had an overwhelmingly simple and yet sensational epiphany. Joy and magic do not depend on the external; they are always accessible to me through the light within. I was trying so hard to “see” the magic, to “feel” the joy from external things, but really, what I should have been doing all along is just tapping into the innate warmth and light that is present in us all. Check out the caption in the Instagram post for more thoughts on this.
And a couple things that helped that are not links I can share…
Planning adventures… I am going on a trip to Philly this weekend with 3 of my friends, and I was getting myself so excited for the adventure and break from routine.
Going abroad…Looking at all the magical pictures of Edinburgh (guys follow this account), finding coffeeshops and bookshops I want to try when I’m there, and just imagining the life I want to lead in the half a year that I will be there pulled me out of the funk like nothing else.
Changing my mindset…This is perhaps the hardest one and requires quite a bit of conscious work, but it’s also mind-bogglingly simple. Just change your attitude. You could feel stuck and exhausted and burnt out and be having trouble seeing the POINT of all this work. Try to think about what’s good about this situation. What will you miss when you look back 10 years from now? What is this experience teaching you, or how is it making you a better stronger person?
For example, I know for me, when I have several weeks of non-stop work and no time for personal projects/hobbies/friends, I start feeling really apathetic or resentful towards my schoolwork or college in general. In those times, I remind myself how hard I worked to be here, how fortunate I am to be receiving this great education, and how much I will miss having my friends so close by.
I hope these help you if you’re currently having the blahs. Remember that you are never alone and that “happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light. <3
I’d love if you link up below!
What’s been bringing you joy lately?
Thank you for the reminder that joy and magic are only and always within us and us alone. We really do have that control, don’t we?
Girl. You are going to love Edinburgh. I was there 2 summers ago. It’s HARRY POTTER LAND! Did you know Rowling wrote a lot of the book there? I went on an awesome Harry potter tour and learned so many things I did not know. Oh and there’s awesome coffee shops. No kidding thinking about this adventure of yours works to add some magic into your days <3
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Of course I knew!!! Planning on taking a pilgrimage to every site that relates to HP. AHHHHH so excited.
And yassss about the coffee shops, I already have a running list 😀 If you have any recommendations, send them my way. <3
Great write-up Nicole! I must say that yoga and meditation/mindfulness is my go-to solution when I feel down.
By the way, yoga should really be regarded as a workout. I often feel it in my legs and hips the day after and I am pretty sure it affects my squats.
Marcus recently posted…Pure Wave CM7 Review – Is It As Good As It Is Popular?
Thanks Marcus! Totally agree with you; it definitely works some muscles that don’t usually get targeted in more “traditional ways” and it often gets my heart rate up too!