Happy Monday Everyone! You guys know I always try and keep it pretty positive here on the blog, but I’ll be honest, I was in a pretty miserable mood this weekend! For some completely unexplainable reason, I felt really homesick and a little down in the dumps, so much so that a lady came up to me on the street to hand me a business card for her spiritual advisor lol (only in New York). Sometimes the homesickness just hits me out of nowhere and usually it’s happens on the weekend when I’m not crazy busy at work and have a little time on my hands! After two years in NYC, I’ve come to expect that feeling homesick from time to time is just part of my journey here and it’s a small price to pay for all of the wonderful opportunities that NYC has! That said, I know for certain I’m not the only one who has days where they don’t feel 100%, so here are a couple of things that help me get out of a negative headspace.
1. Go for a walk or take an exercise class: I’m definitely someone who enjoys going for a walk in Central Park with my favorite Spotify playlist when I’m feeling a little blue. I also love taking a fun workout class to get me moving and I swear, it instantly cheers me up! I genuinely believe that cardio induced endorphins ACTUALLY exsist and can really be a great mood lifter.
2. Treat Yourself: Some days you just need to go easy on yourself and treat yourself! One of my favorite things to do when I’m feeling down is to go to the Plaza Hotel and get my favorite black and white cookie (a quintessential NYC treat) followed by a wander around Bergdorfs making wish lists for when I win the lottery! For you it might mean making yourself a bowl of popcorn and snuggling up to your favorite show on Netflix or even doing a little online shopping! Whatever it is that cheers you up, do it and don’t for one minute waste time feeling guilty about it!
3. Identify what’s getting you down and make a plan to fix it: The older I get, the more I realize that it’s ok to just let yourself feel what you’re feeling and not to fight it. When I’m feeling stressed, anxious or just plain old grumpy, I try to identify why I’m feeling that way and what I can do to help myself get over it. For instance, sometimes I get really anxious when I have a lot on my plate at work, so I make little voice notes on my phone of everything I have to do and that way I know I won’t forget them and can tick them all of the list once I get to the office.
4. Remind yourself of some good things to come: I know it’s best to live in the moment and not to wish the days away, but I personally find that I’m a happier person when I have something fun to look forward to. It just so happens that the next couple of weeks are going to be jam packed with fun. I have my Labor Day weekend getaway planned to see my Mom and Sister like I mentioned in my last post, my 26th Birthday (jesus, lets not talk about how old I’m getting), the madness of Fashion Week is just around the corner and I’m going to see Ed Sheeran at the end of September too!
5. Breath: I’ll be the first to admit that I find it hard to meditate and often question how it works for people when I find it near impossible to shut my mind off. But there was one night over the weekend where I could not sleep for the life of me, and then I was so overtired that I was making myself upset for no reason. And then I remembered this breathing technique that a girl at work once told me where you breath in for 6 seconds, hold it for 10 seconds and exhale for 7 seconds and I swear it worked wonders in helping me feel better and calmer!
6. Take a break from social media: I love Instagram and Snapchat as much as the next person, but I think it’s really good for your mental health to take a break from scrolling every once in a while! Unfortunately it’s not something I get to do very often in my line of work, but I really look forward to the day when I can have a phone-free weekend! For now I’ll settle for a phone-free hour every Saturday morning!
Photos: Edelle Kenny
I’m off to San Francisco for a couple of days with work tomorrow to attend a really exciting women in tech summit with Google! Be sure to follow along on Instagram and Snapchat (Michaelabear1) for my San Fran highlights!
