Well would you look at that. This is crazy! I actually have some useful advice for anyone out there who happens to stumble upon this usually nonsensical and superfluous advice blog.
So instead of bullshitting around, kiddos, let's get to it!
In my Psych class, we've been focused on sleep and how it affects the tiny mechanisms of out day-to-day lives, and we covered some major focuses on some underlying causes of the general unhealthyness of American society today. We can't keep blaming McDonalds, although it's really clever and we've gotten some great memes out of it. I only have a couple suggestions on how to actually relax, and these are the result of weeks of studying myself and my living habits. I also must note, before we get started, that eating pleasurable foods and laying back on the couch while visually consuming a whole season of Breaking Bad or Desperate Housewives or whatever kind of obsessive driven shit you watch does count as relaxing, but frankly we all knew that. I'm here to help, but not in that "you-go-girl-you-don't-need-no-man-you-re-beautiful-be-strong-eat-chocolate-take-a-bubblebath" kind of way.
1. When dealing with mild depression, sit in silence for one hour a day, with your eyes closed. This forces you to spend time "on the inside", and it can be a natural way to temporarily relieve some of the upset of depression by allowing your mind time to wander to where it needs to be and begin to mend itself. Some depressed people might argue that they want to get away from themselves and this might make them more upset, but silence is always healing, no matter how awkward or lonely.
2. When dealing with mild anxiety, take a few moments and picture what you look like. Don't stare at yourself in the mirror, just picture your face. You'll start to be aware of your eyebrows, your eyes, your jaw, and if any of them are strained or clenched or furrowed. When you have a good picture of yourself in your mind, it's likely that you'll be returned to a basic state of mind that I call stasis; all of your thoughts consist of pictures, not videos. and the new found awareness of yourself as a person should ease the rush of everything else going on in your head.
3. When things started piling up on me, and my to-do list got longer and longer, I started listening to ambient music. Some might call it gay, or boring, but nobody can ever call it bad music, so that's good enough for me. I could link up numerous articles that show how music affects your limbic system and cortical brains, but we all know that music plays a big role in your emotions, energy levels, attention span, learning capacity, etc.
So give ambient a try if you're ever unable to organize your thoughts, and don't feel like or have the time for meditating. Here's a good one to start off with!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO5yFfN7OO8
Now go heal your broken mind a bit. You never know what a difference a tiny little change can make in your everyday life.
-Mackenna
