Tag / daily life

by yojeanyi

Gloomy days can be good days: flipping the tone

I woke up today feeling groggy, probably from another strange dream with shapeshifting friends and roads going nowhere. I cranked my eyes open before the unconscious world could drag me back into a sticky slumber. Leaping from bed to office chair in 5 seconds, I started writing in hopes that my brain would believe and enact a good day ahead.

Having a good day consists of the following:

Good food, good company, feeling good, being good. If half of these are present, I’d be having a good day. If all are present, that’s a great day.

obligatory prescription: for how best to wake up each day:

“

  1. get substantial exercise the day before;
  2. sleep longer and later than you typically do;
  3. eat a low sugar breakfast rich in complex carbohydrates, with a moderate amount of protein
  4. pay attention to your body’s glucose response after eating.

“

A) Good food– I know people who eat the same sandwich for lunch and are content. Whatever good food is to you is perfect, as long as its not all unhealthy. Balance is key. For myself, I love some crunchy veggies and fruits. I discovered a satisfying tangy ranch popcorn seasoning when I’m feeling decadent. (The entire bottle is 195 calories which will take a while to get through.)

You can never skimp on the god of foods, protein. I go for the ease and nutrition of boiled eggs, fish, beans, and less frequently, delicious beef stews and pork belly.

My personal favorite meals- juicy street tacos cut with fresh red and green salsas, soothing savory and herbal pho, a big stomach filling bowl of bibimbap made from stir fried wild greens, julienned veggies, earthy mushrooms stirred in gochujang and sesame oil, warm gnocchi made from golden potatoes riced with a slotted spoon and tossed in a pea, sun dried tomato, hot chili oil, butter garlic sauce. Anything chocolate. Frozen treats like chocolate covered frozen bananas rolled in toasted chopped walnuts, peanuts, sea salt. Or a DIY peeled mini mango popsicle. Lots of water. My coffee with a thick cloud of foam. Pickles.

B) Good company – Spending time with people who accept, care, love, challenge you. Hanging out with those with similar interests or values. These will be family, friends, coworkers, classmates, community members, strangers at the gym without whom you will never exchange a word or even a glance, but who are with you in a shared space to focus on the same goal. It can be fellow movie goers, the number of which will not matter. In the dim theatre you are laughing and sniffling together. Good company in good spaces.

C) Feeling Good – Being active (walking, exercising, standing/stretching), giving a big stretch, journaling, reading a page out of book, chatting, listening to music or enjoying the arts. Unscheduled time alone, being without anything that requires attention. Doing the responsible things and doing the carefree things.

And feeling good even though it feels bad at first can be tackled as follows:

According to one internet user:

“Like, I started the workout routine by spending 3 weeks just getting out of bed, putting on my running shoes and workout clothes (not in that order) and just standing outside my door. Spent weeks literally just practicing going outside in the morning, until that stuck as a habit. Then I started by practicing jogging 10meters/yards for a few weeks, and then I progressed from there. Now I run 5-8km each time.”

D) Being Good – Helping others, asking and receiving help from others, expressing gratitude, self reflection. Working on projects and short term or long term plans. Remembering good times, letting go of bad times.

It’s also a healthy practice to limit screen use and passive consumption. Whenever we work on the screen, I’m sure it is now common knowledge to take frequent eye breaks. The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends the “20-20-20 rule for adults who work on a computer. This rule suggests that individuals look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes of the day.”

A begrudging morning doesn’t need to set the tone for the day. Even if you have a great routine, it’s not always great. But things will unfold to bring you joy and meaning when you set up your life for goodness to flow.

by yojeanyi

💤😴🌛 Tip: Yyyyyy not Zzzzzzz

Welcome to another episode of “Can’t sleep?” with your host, “I Forgot to Do Something”. It’s another great night for not sleeping.

Sleeplessness shares good company with hiccups and the appendix: leftover primal functions and medical mysteries.

Sleeplessness is commonly the work of an overstimulated mind. When it’s time to knock out for the day, there’s just one last thing to finish, a nagging worry you want to address, a… memory from 14 years ago needing remembering. And then, you’ve dipped into half the required slumber you need to be “A” game.

Try this new Counting Sheep:

  1. Visualize: See yourself as asleep.
  2. Lists are known to induce drowsiness: Pretend you are telling a friend your bedtime routine, walking through it step by step.
  3. Describe how you wind down. Describe a body check. Toes intact. As far you as can tell, organs intact, content. Saw aloud one word descriptions of how you feel physically and emotionally.
  4. Like lists, dry and technical explanations bore yourself into a slumber: Pretend a child doesn’t know what “blank” is, so you explain it to them. Fill in ‘blank’ with any topic of your choice that’s 3 degrees from things you really like to talk about. What is the function of blank?

If you can’t zzzzzzzzzzzzzz then do the next best: yyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Divide your rest into a few long naps like the (g)olden times. Expect that your internal clock is going to be different for a while.

You can plan the following day’s naps. Here in this sleepless sanctuary, there are naps without judgement. Plus, if you have chronic insomnia, sleep hygiene isn’t important yet. Don’t look at the time– think nothing of calculations. Only use neutral to positive words like sandwich, upstream trout, or pink sky.

Does this nap take place outside in coma inducing sun and breeze? To the sound of waves? or, if you’re not by water, to the smell of lemon flowers? A section of grass is prickly and damp, so you find a more dry spot, maybe a worn rocking chair, the seat a faded a tan Maple, while the backrest a less worn Acacia brown turning Olive. Swinging in a plushy hammock. It feels like the layover between flights…brick feet drag anchor eyelids to your gate…personal luggage becomes cloud. Remember the most desperate of times you wanted to knock out…an all nighter essay, morning class in a warm lecture hall, monotone ramblings in gibberish…