Let’s Talk
The last 10 months have been hard, there is no question about it. It still baffles me to think that one year ago today I was living my life, and now things are so drastically different. The world has faced hardships that some people live their whole life without seeing. Things that brought me joy seems like a distant memory: travelling, seeing my family, going to restaurants, sitting in a coffee shop, going to the gym, the list goes on and on and on.
Today is Bell Let’s Talk Day so I figured it would be would be a great time to talk about some of the ways that I cope with my own stress. Everyone is different, and what works for me, might not work for you. But here is what I do on the day to day to try and have positive mental health practices, and do what makes me happy:
An Early Start: I have been trying to get up earlier than I normally would to have some time alone to myself. This helps make me not feel as rushed.
Journaling: I have been getting into the habit of journaling every day, and really just writing whatever comes to my mind. I find it makes more “space” in my brain, and just have more clarity overall. It’s been such a great day way to start the day.
Physical Activity: I used to honestly dread working out, and thought of it as something I “had” to do. Shifting my perspective to think of it as something I get to do has completely changed the way I feel about it. Knowing that physical activity doesn’t have to be a workout, it can be a walk, bike ride, hike, yoga flow, even something as simple as making an effort to get up and move around. It has made such a positive difference for me.
Hobby: For me, having this blog, creating digital content, this has been such a great hobby for me. Sure, there are times where I let it stress me out when it shouldn’t but overall it’s given me a creative outlet, something to switch gears and think about besides my business, work, etc.
Quality Time with Bae: I feel so blessed to have my fiancé and truly don’t know what I would do without him. We have so much on the go at all times: work, running a business together, planning our wedding, family obligations, there’s a lot. So we try to set aside time for just the two of us to do whatever as long as it’s together, cooking, watching TikToks, putting on a show, chatting, it’s nice to have that time together to feel loved.
Trying Something New: We used to try new restaurants all the time, and it was so fun because it was date night and it gave us something to look forward to. Now what we have been doing is trying new take out options, which again is still something to look forward to, and we are supporting local! This can apply to so many different things, trying a new skill, activity, area to go for a drive to, etc.
Phone Calls with Friends: I quickly learned after no longer being a student that having an adult friendship means a lot of phone calls. So this has been no different to try and make the time to talk with my friends. We’ve also started to do shorter chats so that it doesn’t feel like this huge chunk of time to schedule in. They’re great mini catch ups that I leave feeling so much better after.
Family Time: I am so close with my family and this time apart has been so difficult. I’ve been trying to make the most of the time with my immediate family since we’re altogether. We’ve come up with fun stuff like dinners we all make together and try a new recipe, themed movie nights (Harry Potter, and basically every season we did Halloween, Christmas moves, etc.), doing a huge puzzle (HP castle). It’s just nice to spend time together.
I know some of these seem like they go without saying, but I hope that they help in some way. If you feel as though you need help, here is a resource from the Bell Let’s Talk initiative: https://letstalk.bell.ca/en/get-help
Take care xoxo,
Coffee Loving Chiro
