What a Difference a Day Makes

Yesterday I had a bad day.  My anxiety was high, I felt like I couldn't breathe, I was tired, and I really didn't want to go into work all day.  I was on day two of eight consecutive days which is never good for me as I don't get proper rest and get more and more tired anxious and grumpy as the days go on.  No one likes grumpy Carol.

We've had a heatwave here in the UK this week and that's meant that I've not been sleeping very well.  My Garmin Vivomove says that I've not woken up as much as I have as I've managed to get back to sleep quickly.  I've been waking up early again as well so between 5-6 am.

So I thought about what I could do to help myself feel less anxious while at work.  I could make some journal notes while on the downstairs till I could do my slow deep breathing exercises, I could text a friend and say how I was feeling. I decided to do all three of these and it's amazing how much better I felt once I'd text with a friend about what was going on with me.  

My friend replied that I should "take today as a day of being kind to yourself. Maybe sneaky choc treats at dinner time." I said how I had a piece of my homemade chocolate cake for pudding that evening.

Today is Sunday morning and I'm a whole different person to how I was feeling yesterday. It's amazing what a decent nights sleep can do for me as it's much cooler now and I managed to get more sleep, I don't remember waking up as much as I had been during the heatwave.

Yesterday I thought about how I could be kind to myself especially while I was at work so I split the day into smaller bite-sized pieces; an hour on the till, a few hours upstairs, lunch, an hour downstairs again etc. While I was upstairs I found things to keep me busy; serving customers, tidying up the shop and processing any orders that we had come in.

Today I feel so much better.  I am calm, hopeful, positive, happier, breathing normally and my head feels clearer.  I'm not focusing on the fight or flight body reactions I was having yesterday and I am really happy to be where I am right now.  

What things do you find to do to help yourself when you're anxious?