Given the background I have in twelve step groups, therapy and what I'd been learning in mental health facilities, I came up with coping tools that were realistic and relatively easy to do.
Here's what I wrote down for my "body". These are not written down in any particular order. Think of them as little pieces of paper in a hat where you reach in and pick one out.
- Walking
- Body Relaxation
- Snapping a rubberband on my wrist
- Using a punching bag
- Punching my pillow
- Taking my medication as prescribed
- Using a pill organizer and filling it as needed
- Splashing cold water on my face
- Change my surroundings
- Slow down my breathing
- Listen to relaxing music
- Watch a creation video
- Seek out hugs
- Take anxiety medication
- Get out of bed
- Eat when hungry; stop when full
- Don't skip meals
- Get plenty of sleep
- Do stretches
- Go outside for fresh air
- Wrap self in blankets to feel safe
- "I have a right to say no to anything that will hurt me or be unsafe."
This is the first step in being able to recognize and learn when my body is feeling stress or exhaustion. It has a way of telling me what it needs. I need to pay attention to what it is saying. The best way to manage it is to stay aware, try some of the above to see what works and to ask my therapist if she has any other ideas that I can try.
Practicing the above keeps me in tune in the here and now. I need to stay in the present so that my body doesn't stay stuck and instead is able to move forward out of the stress. If I stay in the stress, I end up saying no to things that God may have wanted to give me.
And who wants to do that?
