Internet Braintrust - halp?

[kittyblue]

So, work is really stressing me out, and I know some of it isn't just 'work' so much as all the other things that are seriously affecting my ability to cope with even the smallest frustrations

Comments

Some things I do:

[brimmins]

Cleansing breath - deep breath in through nose, then exhale all the stress/tension/etc out slowly through your mouth.

Meditation - close eyes, focus on consciously relaxing your entire body a bit at a time.

Other meditation - there's the kind where you imagine yourself in some super calm relaxing place. Go into enough detail and it's like self-hypnosis. If you find yourself thinking about real life, just think about what your dark cave or sunny meadow or whatever smells/sounds/feels like instead.

They all work together nicely too.

Now that I think of it, there's a lot of Bible-y stuff that really calms me down. Also prayer (the conversation with the light side of the Force kind, not the kneeling/chanting/whipping yourself kind). I don't know if you're into that but it works for me.

*Shadey hugs* <3

Re: Some things I do:

[kittyblue]

The prayer thing has never worked for me, even when I was a little, gullible kid, sadly. (It sounds fantastic, if it works for you, and I'm actually rather envious of folks that can be comforted by that.)

But the meditation bits - I like that.

I've also decided to just channel much more of my energy into non-work activities overall - cooking, cultural costumes (I have two new saris to practice wearing now in addition to my kimono habit), crafty hobbies, etc. I'm signed up for dance and some cooking classes in the fall, and I think I'm just going to have to give the bare minimum at work for a while - if it doesn't get done, it doesn't get done, and if someone wants to bitch about it, I can give them ALL the reasons why I have no incentive to care anymore.

Re: Some things I do:

[brimmins]

Yeah, Christianity in particular is definitely not about peace. More like God is a pimp, and you are his bitch. Hm. I guess prayer is kind of a mindfulness thing. Maybe talking to yourself or keeping a journal is the not-religious equivalent? Buddhists are pretty mellow, maybe they're onto something.

Meditation is fucking super. Seriously.

"... if it doesn't get done, it doesn't get done ..." <- FTW

Oh hay speaking of crying jags.

Re: Some things I do:

[kittyblue]

I f'in love Dane Cook. He's hilarious!

[songblaze]

When I was working for a company I couldn't stand, my favorite thing to do was on the way home, BLAST some really rocking music (preferably ANGRY rocking music) and just kind of rock out, drum on the steering wheel, and sing along at the top of my lungs.

About 15 minutes of that really seemed to help me with the leaving work frustrations at work.

If that didn't do it, when I got home, I'd put on something reeeeally relaxing and do breathing exercises. I liked things like Enya for that, or some of the Lifescapes instrumentals. Scottish Moor is a particular favorite, and Celtic River (I think).