Decaffeinated

I wish it didn’t work, I really do. But it did. It helped a lot.

I was very stressed. It was a busy time at work. Some other events had me on edge as well. The stress got out of control. I was snappy and wired. I had to find ways to calm down.

No coffee, no tea. I was damn tired but cutting it out for a while took the edge off. It may not make a big difference for everyone but it did for me. It dulled that over-wired edge.

Caffeine

When you’re over-tired and stressed, the last thing you want to do is cut out your rituals, especially the ones that are holding you upright.

The issue for me is that caffeine was likely also keeping me awake at night. And making me jittery. I don’t drink a lot of coffee but I do drink lots of tea. And maybe I’m not so suited to it. I don’t think I’ll give it up entirely but it did help to cut it out when I was stressed and busy.

Exercise

Again, I wish it didn’t work…but it does. If you’re super stressed, the last thing you want to do is exercise. You’re busy enough anyway. Why push yourself to do another damn thing. Because you will feel better. A lot better.

Because stress is physical. Exercise is physical too, good physical. And our brains live in our bodies. Life is a physical experience and it sucks when you’re living in stress soup.

So I wish it didn’t work so well… but it does.

Yoga

This should be under exercise but I think it deserves a mention. I’ve noticed that when I feel physically inflexible, I also tend to feel mentally inflexible. I feel like I don’t have room to move. I don’t “go with the flow”.

When I feel physically strong, I also feel mentally strong. Not muscle-woman strong, just toned. Yoga is good for strong and flexible. It also improves your breathing. Good breathing brings you out of “fight and flight” and into relaxation mode. Ahhh… a bit like a nice cup of tea. Oops, old habits die hard. Try some yoga. Even ten minutes makes a difference.

There are lots of ways to reduce that wired up feeling. Many of them won’t be appealing. When you’re over-wired you think you need to be that way. But it’s not true. Well, it’s probably not true.

Ok, ok, you’re right, I take it back. Your office is a war-zone. You need all the stimulants you can get… and camouflage… and bootcamp… it’s a war out there.

How do you calm down when you’re wired up?