3 Wellbeing Acitivites To Help De-stress After Work
We all know about wellbeing, and how good it is for de-stressing. Actually doing it on the otherhand is another matter. Here are three things that everyone should be doing as part of our post work destressing, no matter your level of fitness, time or health. They are activities which, if done correctly and over time, will lead to better health, happiness and, in turn, better wellbeing.
Digital Detox
We’ve heard of the juice detox diet, but what about the digital detox? We are spending more and more time on our devices, especially during work- and if you’re anything like me that will be right up to switching off the lights to go to sleep.
Blue light, emitted from our screens affects our brains more than we think. This is the same type of light we have around us during the day when the sun is shining. So by staring at blue light long after the sun has gone down reduces the amount of melatonin our brains produce. Melatonin is the hormone that controls our sleep cycle, so falling asleep and staying asleep becomes a lot more difficult.
Using tech before bed also keeps the brain awake! Not letting yourself wind down properly before sleep can trick it into thinking it needs to stay awake for longer. Give your brain the time to unwind and process the events of the day, and there will be less pre-sleep anxiety as your brain overloads with everything you did and need to do the next day.
Try leaving your phone on your dresser if you need it in your room as an alarm, or better yet, leave it outside the room altogether. If you need your phone next to your bed, switch it onto a nightime setting and settle down with a good book, or try some in bed yoga stretches (Once you have practiced them a few times, you should be able to do them without the need for your phone!)
This bedtime yoga sequence is one of my favourites!
Self-Love
Positive affirmations, talking through your negative thoughts and realising that you’re not immune to stress can all help in our day to day lives. If you had a good day at work, brag about it! Tell yourself that you rocked it! Looking at yourself while saying well done to yourself in a mirror may seem super weird, so start easy and write down some of the things you did really well that day on a post it note to stick to your mirror.
Saying NO! is also a form of self-love, and really good for our wellbeing. Not a single one of us is immune to stress and the fatigue of modern busy life, and allowing yourself to put yourself first means you’re prolonging your battery life. The whole ‘say yes’ movement is great- for those who have the time and energy! You are allowed to say no if it doesn’t work for you.
My favourite self-care activity is to have a bath with Epsom salts and lavender before bed after a particularly stressful day. Epsom salts are a form of magnesium that can be absorbed through the skin. It regulates muscle and nerve function as well as blood sugar levels and blood pressure- so perfect for de-stressing and amazing for aches and pains.
Bath salts don’t have to cost the earth. I buy this 5 kg tub from Amazon for £23.99 (which lasts me months and is so much cheaper than buying it in smaller containers) and fill it into my own re-usable pretty container! This amount at such a great price means I can also load my bath up!
If I’m having a bad muscle pain day, I will put up to three cups of the salts into my bath so I can sit and soak it all in. You can also go fancy by adding in some homemade dried lavender petals or essential oils to a hot bath.
Exercise
‘Why don’t you just exercise more’ is one of the worst misinformation sayings about ‘curing’ chronic illness. As someone who is unable to do cardio training due to PoTS, I often feel lost and left behind when trends and fads to do with exercise start taking over my social media feeds- and I know I am not the only one who feels this way.
I need to keep my muscles strong in order to support my joints, which in turn lowers my pain levels and rate of dislocations, but it took my over 10 years since I first began experiencing symptoms, and over 4 years after my diagnosis to be in a place where I was finally able to start exercising again.
If you’re picturing me getting sweaty in a gym, or in full workout gear going on a run or bike ride then you’ve got it all wrong. Exercising with a chronic illness isn’t a bad word (which I always felt it was, for many years). Exercising with a chronic illness is about realising your potential, recognising your limits and learning what is best for you.
Struggling to exercise due to chronic health conditions and pain? Try looking for a local hydrotherapy pool, the water not only helps support your joints meaning it’s easier to stretch and move around, but the warmth also soothes your muscles. Book in once a week, fortnight or month after work or on your day off. Keep a schedule and work it into your routine.
Swimming, not your thing? Look up your local sports centres and see what they offer for people with disabilities. This can be a great, pain-free way, of accessing adapted bikes and trying exciting exercise hobbies like rock climbing and even indoor skiing!
Youtube is a fantastic resource of at-home workouts, so try to give beginners yoga or Pilates a go. Find a workout that is done on a bed or sat on a chair. Don’t see content that works for you? Contact your local yoga/Pilates/Personal Trainers and ask if they have experience working with your condition, or would be willing to learn about it. (You will be surprised by the positivity and awareness of conditions that many trainers already have!)
Wellbeing is so personal. It comes from within you, and you are the only person who is able to truly influence it. Our bodies may function and react to things in different ways, so seeing that different things work for different people, and with that recognising that you can build your own version around the other things that seem to take over your life (like your career)- it’s empowering!