Relax, Dammit!

posted 4th December 2010    Written by: Renee    CATEGORY: Life Lesson, Renee, Season 3, What I've Learned

The thing about bad days is the residual funk.  It’s the can’t-snap-out-of-it helplessness.  It’s the I-refuse-to-smile hopelessness.

When I have bad days, I do the shit out of them.  I throw myself a giant pity party. I cry.  I watch full seasons of my favorite television shows. I make snide remarks to my cat.  I eat my feelings.  I drink a bottle of wine and then I whine about everything. No one else is invited. I dwell on my mistakes, my misgivings, and my shortcomings.  Pessimism is totally my bag.  Don’t try to snap me out of it because you will fail.

But the thing about doing my bad days to the max is that each day is a new day.  I wake up the next morning embarrassed about the amount of calories I ingested but having learned a lesson. My day-long pity parties force me to relax. Now, it’s time to move on.

Luckily, it’s been a long time since my bad days have overwhelmed my entire day.  Getting out of a dead-end job where I was never good enough was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.  That doesn’t mean that I don’t get into a funk every now and then.  I do throw myself pity parties, but they’re small scale, not keggers.

I do my very best to nip my bad moods in the rear before they start.  I’ve learned to identify triggers.  I know I am an impatient woman, so being behind the slowest car ever on my late night commute home from school can ruin an entire day.  That’s when I tell myself to take a deep breath, turn on my favorite sing-along song, and roll my shoulders.  I will get there when I get there, I am in no hurry.  Or when my professor keeps us late and I realize I’ve been bouncing my knee up and down obnoxiously to the point where my feet now ache.  Relax, Renee.
I put the breathing exercises I learned in Bikram yoga combined with the controlled breathing I’ve practiced in my bajillion years of voice lessons to good use.  Open the throat, lift the diaphragm, raise the soft palate… breathe in for four, out for eight… relax.

Being a perfectionist can lead to a lot of frustration.  I’ve learned to breathe. I’ve learned to force myself to smile.  I’ve learned to consciously relax my tense muscles.  I’ve learned to let go, to delegate, and to know when to give up.  And I’m proud of all I’ve learned.

{photo via Vvillamon}

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Comments (4)

4 Responses to “Relax, Dammit!”

  • Alisha Says:
    December 4th, 2010 at 3:41 pm

    One of the most important techniques of yoga I have pcked up too is breathing. It definitely helps me through some of those high-anxiety bad days.

  • Lindsey Says:
    December 7th, 2010 at 9:09 am

    Ugh, eating feelings is the worst. I so do that when I feel like shit. Can't the pity party have carrot sticks?!

  • Renee Says:
    December 7th, 2010 at 2:04 pm

    Cheetos LOOK like carrot sticks, can we just count them as carrots?

  • nikki_klecha Says:
    December 13th, 2010 at 3:03 pm

    I think sometimes the BEST thing to do is throw yourself a pity party – give yourself that day to feel like complete ass-wipe shiza, and then GET OVER IT. :)

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