As I write this, on this day, my head is not quite screwed on right. Certain situations out-with Covid have sparked my mind to overthink things. Last night when my head hit the pillow, the fireworks went off. Could not sleep. When I did get to sleep, I woke up every hour, almost rhythmically. Had an alarm set for 8.30am to get up, do yoga, do a workout, meditate, and write this post. Make the most of my day. I got up 8.30 and went straight back to bed, waking up at 10. Due to the lack of a good night’s sleep, my mind started over thinking things and I had zero motivation to get up out of bed. So, what did I do? Yup, I went on Facebook and scrolled mindlessly for 2 hours. Then when I decided I had to get up as it was already the second half of the day, I felt guilty that I hadn’t gotten up at 8.30, “rolled the sleeves up” and achieved. So, my motivation was at an all-time low and I felt an overwhelming sadness creep over me. Strangely enough, it was this sadness that motivated me. ”I don’t really want to feel sad right now.”
I told myself “so you didn’t get out of bed till after mid-day, so you have some stuff going on that you will sort out in time, so you’re feeling a bit de-motivated…you’re still healthy…you still have the opportunities to grow and improve your mindset…you still have friends and family that you could talk to almost instantly if you want to (video call). Go and do some yoga and take it from there”. So, I had some food, got on the yoga mat and spent about 90 minutes warming up and practicing the lotus pose (not quite there yet). Then I could reason with my mind a bit more and had increased motivation. Told myself I would do one of those home workouts…and I did…and I enjoyed it. I felt even better. Then I pushed myself further to lift some weights. Great. Then I went for a cold shower for over 1 minute. I was no longer in a funk. I was no longer de-motivated. I no longer felt sad. I felt like I could go for a run, but I knew that would be overdoing it. It really reminded me just how important it is to recharge your mind. A bad night’s sleep or a lack of sleep can play a huge role in how you feel throughout the day. So many things can cause a lack of motivation, but the more you give in to that demotivation, the more demotivated you will feel. Start off small and slowly regain that motivation to take on your day, your tasks, your life, and the world.
Still pushing myself to focus using cold water therapy courtesy of the big lunatic Wim Hof. Cold showers and breathing techniques have been a daily routine the past few weeks. Really looking forward to Monday morning going for a cold dip in the Clyde with Clark and Lewis from “a Wee bit of Everything” podcast. Should put the cold showers to shame plus will be interesting doing it with a group of people instead of on my own. Will let you know how it goes in the next post. For now, in these confusing and, I imagine for some, quite lonely times, I feel it is important for your mental health, to keep looking and keep moving forward. Don’t see the isolation as a barrier to your growth, but as an opportunity to grow. For many of you out there, you have more time to focus on you than you have had before. Take that extra time to really focus on what is good for you as an individual whether that be doing more yoga, learning a new skill, writing something you’ve always wanted to write, paint or draw, play, meditate, read, watch your favourite films or series…the list goes on. The main thing is to focus on what is going to help YOU grow, what is going to make YOU happy, and do it, often.
My next post I will do something a little different. I haven’t written a book review since school. But this is not just any old review I will be doing, and this is not just any book. Keep your eyes peeled.
Cheers
Beef
