Not every day is a good day, and that’s ok

Not every day starts off well. 

Even for a person like me - who is a morning person - and who rarely wakes up in a sullen mood, especially on a sunny day like today - there are times when I wake up feeling low.

I didn’t sleep well last night. I got caught in an anxiety spiral. And that continued this morning. I cried some. I felt overwhelmed. I lost my temper. My mind felt restless.

I wasted all morning feeling like shit. I couldn’t shake off everything that was bothering me even one bit. 

I put on yoga nidra meditation and took a short nap in the afternoon. And after the nap, I came to the realization that emotional regulation doesn’t mean not having such days. 

It means learning how to find my way out of the spiral. Minimize the damage. And find my way back to a regulated state. 

And that’s exactly how the rest of my day unfolded. 

My way back included:

— a 23 minute sauna session after dropping my son off at debate

— a 45 minute walk outside my daughter’s cello class

— a phone call with my mum, dad and sister 

— a late night drive to Target for my son’s sea salt spray 

— a warm bath before bed 

Whatever was bothering me earlier today still exists. Nothing has magically disappeared or resolved itself. 

But what I’m learning is to take these days in my stride. And build resilience to navigate myself back to equilibrium as quickly as I can. 

Here’s hoping tomorrow is a better day ❤️

PS: I love this photo from Saturday.