Thoughts

Life, off-late, has been all about adulting. And with adulting comes excessively stressing out. Life is difficult and everything that happens to us happens in superlative. Emotional stress, work stress, it can be chaotic. You think you find reprieve in meditation and you do that but a few days on and you feel it isn’t working out anymore. Insomnia follows. You stay awake all night looking at the ceiling, killing thoughts, counting sheep or stars but stress doesn’t go away. You go to a pub, think of getting a life but a ping from your boss about the “presentations tomorrow!” pulls off that smile from your face. The weekend doesn’t crawl. It speeds past you like a bullet train and you are left with the mundane. How then do you cope with stress? I have been going through emotional chaos so much that I stopped talking to my friends, cut off my social media and went into a shell. I then pinged a small group of friends, and one of my friends told me to “take help.” I have come out of clinical depression and I know how disturbing things can be. It was a hell hole and I didn’t wish to go back in that black hole. You find this article here because I have been able to get over the stress. How did I de-stress? Read on to know.   1) Talk The mistake I did was not to talk. I shut myself off and that’s not right. You need to vent your anger, your anxiety, your thoughts – good or bad, doesn’t matter. JUST SPEAK UP. Half of your stress in life is because your thoughts sit in there, in your head and mess up the wiring within.   2) Write Writing helps a lot. But what to write? These days people journal. You can check the videos online wherein there are exclusive channels about journaling. How to journal is simple. Write your thoughts in this notebook you keep. You may write two lines or an entire essay or may abuse your managers but do it! It helps. Also, read: This is how writing a journal made my life less stressful   3) Take up a hobby Take up a hobby. Any hobby. You may wanna check out a dashing car every weekend in a nearby mall or take painting lessons or go cycling or just fill in the adult coloring books. 10 minutes every day or 30 minutes every weekend, doesn’t matter, as long as you get to unwind.   4) Read I am a voracious reader and a book is my comfort food. [I go by the name @book_gobbler on Instagram, you may want to follow me for all the book recommendations 😉 ] Reading helps take your mind off the things around you. Immerse yourself in a fantasy world or a nail-biting thriller or spine chilling horror or general fiction – up to you!   5) Walk I hate rains because all my walk routine becomes kaput during monsoons. I am a better person when I am walking, I always say that. Walking is exercise, yes. But more than that it helps release mood-boosting endorphins. There are multiple other benefits of walking but let’s stick to this one for now. Watch: I walked to a bookstore and this happened!   6) Balasana If you can’t find 10 minutes from your busy schedule for walks, (this taunt is from me to me :P), then you ought to try Balasana. This is done by taking a child-like pose, that helps you relax and destress. Check this video out to get a clear picture:   7) Music The first thing that helps me heal is music. It is my first aid when I am stressing out. Contemporary Bollywood, Trance, Retro, it all depends on my mood but music heals faster, at least it puts the healing process in a gear one. Also, read: My 9 Favorite Lines from the movie Rockstar   Lastly, I would like to tell you all a simple fact – money, position, fame – and everything else you are running after in life is temporary and perishable. What’s permanent and important is how you treat yourself and those around you – that is here to stay. So while keeping yourself sane is important, it is also equally important to make sure that you don’t drown yourself in these luxuries so much that getting out is impossible. I hope these tips help to de-stress your life. Do let me know in DM on Instagram at @book_gobbler. Here is my website and twitter profile.