How do you decompress?

I am currently in school and I found the stress had made my under control anxiety and panic peep its ugly head into the realm of no control. I work currently as an STNA on an adolescent psychiatry unit and decided to actually pay close attention to some of the coping techniques we teach the kids. I have developed a great list of skills to "cope in the moment", and ways to unwind when I am in a "mood" as I am usually bubbly and upbeat.

 

1. Music. One of the things we teach the kids is to have a playlist based on each emotion they feel and songs to help bring them out of it. Example, so when I am in a tizzy my playlist starts out with crashing classical music and with each progressive song it becomes more calming and relaxing. This way you progressively go from the emotion you are currently feeling to a better place. 

 

2. Mandalas & Zendoodling (also know as zentangles). This has been my go-to when in class and I may get extremely anxious or panicked but can not necessarily just leave where I currently am. In the corner of a notebook or scrap paper, I start making a mandala, which simply consists of repetitive shapes around a circle (you draw the circle, then four line top, bottom, and each side, then you can add lines in between each or build from the original four, I stick to simple shapes like C, S, ^, ~, triangles, and circles). Zen doodling is extremely calming for me and I literally will draw zen doodles in anything. There are tons of videos on youtube of how to make these.

 

3. Essential Oils. I have a small roll on with essential oils in that help ease me. My favorite combination is lavender, bergamot, sweet orange, lemon, and grapefruit oil. I just rub a little behind my ears and at my wrist. I am a nail biter and it stops me from biting because I will smell it as I am going to bite and focus on the scent. 

4. When I do get home physical activity, specifically for me dancing helps. I literally will put on some of my favorite music and dance around the house. If I need something more intense I have a Wii and a Beach body on demand subscription and between just dance and Shaun T dance workouts not only do I get in a good burn but I also feel refreshed after.

 

5. Nature and animals. I sit in my office and study with the windows open and a nature show on mute on TV, the diffuser with some of my favorite oils (Nature's Remedy Invigorate which is Lime, Cedarwood, Lavender, and Copiaba it is a premixed oil for my diffuser), and a Spa playlist from google. Literally creates a relaxing yet concentrated environment for me, and when a break is needed I can look up see a few animals (BBC shows are my preferred) and then back to work. 

Hiking in the woods, reading and knitting are my go to's when I'm stressing. Camping in good weather is always helpful for me!

I love LOUD rock and roll...that always helps.  The reason I am visiting Allnurses right now is I need decompressing...I don't know why but just reading and replying to posts, seeing how many likes I have, diffuses my built up tension.

Cold Budweiser and Cool Ranch Doritos always helps.

I love to rock my daughter to sleep in her/our rocking chair. She is my best accomplishment and I love that quiet time with her. It helps me put everything in perspective.  

Watch movies/series on Amazon Prime.  Talk to my husband.  Organize my room (only a 2 year project--long story), work a puzzle that didn't get completely disassembled the last time I put it together.  Stare into space......

LOL at the amazon shopping - so guilty. I also decompress by crawling into bed with my laptop and catching up on my episodes that aired while I was at work the night before. 

I also like to get outdoors w/ my family when I can. It's so much easier to transition back to day shift if I wake up early and force myself outside. My most favorite way to decompress is hitting the slopes, but obviously that limited to just the winter time.

I also read a lot. 

I personally like to crochet! I make blankets and sweaters for my husband and I and our family. I also get tattooed often. Haha my husband is working on subjects and Im his favorite canvas I relax in the tattoo chair and focus on my breathing and it's actually like meditating for me!

I really like StudentNurseRae's suggestions and can attest to how beneficial those suggestions are (though I need to get my lazy butt moving a little more).

-Music (60's-90's hits and show tunes for me)

-Streaming movies (laughing at stupidly silly free horror movies on AmazonPrime, Hulu, and Netflix) 

-Streaming TV shows (there's something soothing about old favorite reruns)

-Cleaning my house (I'm like an ADHD energizer bunny, unable to stay on one task for long when I see something else that needs to be done, but I can have 1200 sq feet totally cleaned and organized in about 4 hours).

-Baking and cooking new recipes (even if I'm not hungry, it's great for batch-cooking for the week and making "thinking of you" food gifts).

I've daydreamed about leaving nursing, actually, to become some rich person's personal chef, baker, and housekeeper because I actually enjoy all those tasks. There's something very soothing in following a recipe or moving from task to task without having to worry about critical thinking or whether I documented enough/correctly at the expense of patient care.

-Playing with my dog

-Convincing my dog that it's perfectly fine for me to play on the Wii and that the controller isn't actually one of *his* toys...oh, and then actually playing games on the Wii! 

When the weather is nice I like to listen to an audiobook with headphones in and go for a nice long walk.  Also, some days I've just got to put on some good dance songs and dance in the living room.  Anything active and mindless helps put me at ease.

Writing (or plotting, anyhow...somehow, that's always more fun than the actual writing), chatting with a friend/family, watching something nerdy or that I don't have to think hard about, snuggling with my kitties (well, the one that will snuggle) or my baby niece...bath bombs...

Less financially advisable, but I have also been known to book impulsive trips for my weekends off to give myself something to look forward to.

And laugh all you want, but I'm of an age where the original Power Rangers was my must-watch TV as a kid...lately, I've been watching it because I have the DVDs...occasionally groaning at the cheesiness, but mostly just enjoying the 90's nostalgia.

On 1/24/2019 at 6:26 PM, pixierose said:

I’ve gotten into coloring recently. It’s fairly relaxing.

If it wasn’t -50 below, I’d go hiking with my pooches and drag the kids.

Lol at the Amazon shopping ... 

I love the trend of adult coloring books.  I have one specifically for nurses...it's a little sassy (ie, "The 'H' out front doesn't stand for hotel!"), but it sure helps with the stress relief!