So you've had a bad day. It's okay! We all have them. Sometimes things just don't go according to plan, or someone says something rubbish and your feelings get hurt. You might have started the day comparing your life to someone else's and you feel inadequate or you're having anxiety about the future. Before you know it, you start getting angry and irritated at even the slightest things and can be very unforgiving, even towards yourself. 

Whatever the cause may be, we tend to get stressed out over ourselves, our lives, and our friends and family. Needless to say that these negative thoughts and feelings have serious consequences unless they're dealt with effectively.

People deal with bad days in different ways and there isn't a universal formula for de-stressing. I for one, like reading up on how different people deal with their bad days, and have incorporated some of those healthy coping mechanisms into my own self-care plan. Today I will share with you six of my favourite ways to de-stress after I've had a bad day. 

Shift in Perspective

Have you noticed the language you use when you're having a bad day? You probably tell yourself that this is the 'worst day ever', 'nothing will ever go right', or brand yourself 'an idiot' or  'a loser'. This is clearly unhelpful. While at the moment it would seem like it's 'absolutely terrible', looking back one day, you'd probably not even remember what happened or whether you were even THAT upset. I like to remind myself that it's 'okay', and that it's not the 'worst'. This shift in perspective narrates how I will spend the rest of my day or evening. 

Get Yourself a Cup of Tea and Some Comfort Food

I truly believe in the magic of a good cup of tea. Perhaps it's the Sri Lankan in me, I wake up to a cuppa and go to sleep after one. Hence there's something so comforting about a warm cup of ginger tea. And pasta. Ah the joys of good home-made pasta. And jambalaya. Okay this could go on... Another way to de-stress is baking because it's so relaxing. The icing on the cake is how this will spark those childhood joys of eating uncooked batter straight out of the mixing bowl. 

Listen to Music

Having recently discovered 'Breathe' by Pink Floyd, I have been repeating the lyrics over and over again. 

"For long you live and high you fly

And smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry

And all you touch and all you see

Is all your life will ever be"

Something a close friend of mine has said struck a chord with me. She said "music expresses our thoughts whenever we stay silent". So turn up the volume on your favourite song and completely immerse yourself in your self-care playlist. Yes, you heard that right. If you don't have a self-care playlist already, creating one itself could be de-stressing.

Cleaning and Organising

Okay I'll be honest, I am a very messy person. By that I mean, empty cups of tea sitting on top of my desk in the middle of piles and piles of paper and books, with handbags hanging off my chair. That's a bad picture, but it is what it is. Imagine walking into a mess of a room after having a bad day. There's no doubt it will fuel all the negative emotions, and make things go from bad to really really bad. So cleaning up and organising even if you spend a good hour scrolling on Pinterest how to do just that, can be de-stressing. As discrepant as it sounds, I am a meticulous list -maker, hence organising my work schedules, and planning for the week ahead in my new Ban.do agenda is a major stress-relief actvity. Besides it allows me to think and plan ahead, and offers a distraction from picking apart everything that went wrong that day. 

Engage in Meditation or Breathing Exercises

Meditation is the perfect way to start and end a day. When you've had a bad day and you're feeling overwhelmed, it can facilitate getting back into the right head space. I've spoken about Pacifica before, so I will not go into detail here. There are various meditation and breathing exercises available, ranging from one minute deep breathing exercises to nine-minute muscle relaxation. This would make up for a great daily wind-down activity as well. 

Products In This Post:
Yes To Coconut  Moisturising Sleeping Mask
Pacifica
Ban.do You're Killing It Agenda

Websites:
YesTo
Ban.do

Share your favourite ways to De-Stress After a Bad Day in a comment down below. I'm sure it will inspire and help many others.