Doing stuff to prioritise calm

[AutumnalCosyness]

I have been so anxious these last few weeks. Palpitations, adrenaline running wild, snapping at my family & feeling huge. Whilst waiting for my next chat with my Dr. to discuss upping my oestrogen levels and possibly trying testosterone, I have been trying to do things to induce calm.

So far...
I've done 3 different yoga classes in the last week.
I have another one booked tomorrow.
I have massively cut down on alcohol (considering being sober)
I have had mostly early nights
I have been trying to eat more healthily

What are you doing that you find helps you feel more tranquil when your hormones are raging?

Also epsom salt baths & lavender body oil at night.

A walk is a great one for me personally. I often start off furiously striding at a fast pace, which calms into a more relaxed pace as I chill out (or rather, as I run out of breath and fury). I always take my phone with me and look out for interesting things to take photos of (mushrooms at the moment).

Ha! Yes a good stomp in the great outdoors is definitely calming & grounding 😊

I find myself getting really irritable and emotional recently so I've upped my physical exercise. I do circuit training three times a week and have started running. It must be the release of endorphins but it helps calm me and works wonders for my sleep. I'm in the throes of changing HRT so I'm hoping exercise gets me through the transition.

Endorphins are definitely the good stuff!

Baths with low lighting while playing a guided meditation.

Meditation in general.

Walk in nature.

Giving up booze completely has been the single biggest thing I have done to feel calmer and more of a general sense of well-being.

I gave up booze also, it was a massive help in feeling calmer and just more ‘level’. I fear caffeine may be next but I’m clinging on to my one coffee a day habit currently.

I need to tackle this.
At the moment, I'm just eating sweets and more sweets!

What a lovely idea for a thread.

I need to get my sleep back on track as I've been going to bed far too late then still waking at 4. As a result I feel like I have a cartoon scribble of anger over my head all day.

I do lots of walking but love the idea of finding things to take photos of instead of muĺling over my worries while stomping at full pelt.

Would like to try meditation too but it's hard as the time that I need it (end of the day) is when I'm too tired to get motivated.

I find that some sort of crafting gets me in the zone and relaxes my mind. I sew and hours can go by without me noticing. It's no good if you have kids interrupting you though.

Oddly, having Botox on my number 11 lines (glabella) as I can’t frown as furiously.

Wearing a mouth guard for teeth grinding.

Swimming.

Listening to soft music.
Walking around lake near my house watching the ducks swimming by. Looking at the trees changing colour. Hot chocolate when I get home

I find a regular morning meditation has improved my general stress levels. Some mornings it is really hard and I fidget my way through 5 mins, other times I really do find it brings me a feeling of inner peace - although not when interrupted by a ‘muuuuuum!!!’

when I’m having a real moment I find that blasting music way too loud and jumping around the kitchen/ garden to it works well.

I have found that changing my diet helped enormously- too much bread and the anxiety and feeling overwhelmed comes flooding back. That was a game changer for me as no bread also means no chocolate cravings oddly.

Got another one that's helped me a lot - delete twitter. My blood pressure thanks me!