1. MED-I-TATE
IT HELPS SO MUCH. I’ll even give you my favorite exercise. Ahem. Close your eyes. Take one deeeeeeeeeep breath in, and while you’re letting this baby out, imagine yourself sitting on the beach, watching the small waves caress the sand. Draw the number 100 in the space immediately in front of you, and while taking another deep breath in, imagine the water covering the number. As you breathe out, imagine the wave taking away the number 100 and replacing it with the number 99. Do this until you get to 0 and you will feel at least a little bit more relaxed than you did before the exercise. Trust me.
2. Call someone you love and have a half-hour-long conversation with them.
We are energized by the people that care about us. It doesn’t matter if it’s a cal to your mom, brother, best friend from home or from school, or even a FaceTime with your dog—all that matters is letting your soul take a break and allowing for your true self to shine in the acceptance and encouragement of those who love you for who you are.
3. Listen to some bomb-ass music and DANCE.
Get up and dance. I’m not talking about a more-energized-than-usual head bobbing. I’m saying dance. Move your body to music you love and forget about the fact that you look like flailing spaghetti. That doesn’t matter. The small beads of sweat and the endorphins released from a nice bout of serious dancing are tangible markers of you letting stress and negative energy out of your body.
4. Remind yourself that you are where you are in life for a reason.
Everything works out in the end. And if it doesn’t work out, then it’s not the end. It’s the most cliché piece of motivational/philosophical advice, but it has established a mindset for me that has gotten me through extremely rough and emotionally chaotic moments of my life. So you, dear reader, are indeed beautiful and no matter how tough this moment seems, it’s just a moment, and it will pass.
5. Tell the Universe what you want and believe that you will get it.
You can get it. You are more powerful than you can possibly begin to understand. It doesn’t matter which medium you place your faith in, whether it be religion, science, or the fact that your mom survived cancer— there is a benign energy that flows through all of us, and if you tell the Universe what it is what you want, then you will tap into that energy and the Universe will provide you it. But you have to work for the establishment of that belief. You need to do whatever it is you can to allow yourself to believe in this thing you want, to make it yours in your mind’s eye and your heart, to dash away any disbelief that creeps into this mentality. This moment may be tough and things may seem out of control, but you really do have the power to change.
Life is supposed to be like a stretchy, malleable piece of Play-Doh, not the rigid, stringent piece of wood it seems to be now. So go forth and let yourself go a little.
