I had a completely different post scheduled for today’s Wellness Wednesday, yet yesterday morning was a reminder to me that we can always hit the restart button and begin again. You know those days where it just seems like everything starts off on the wrong foot… maybe it was a really bad evening of sleep the evening before… which rolled into spilling your breakfast tacos all over your white shirt (because eating while walking is always a smart idea…. #MomMode), then your babysitter calls to cancel (or, maybe it was my fault I never confirmed the evening before… #MomBrain….) when you have a firm deadline for something due later that morning for a brand + a doctor’s appointment that your toddler can’t attend (acupuncture… needles + a toddler don’t really mesh together…. not a risk I’m willing to take)…. and then things just boil over with a tipping point. Not you? Oh, sorry that was me….

Anyway, I feel like we’ve all been there… where things just snowball and we need to fix the day before it gets any worse. That’s what I had to do yesterday, and it’s what I’ve done time and time again. Something I always told my clients they could do, and a skill we worked on frequently. So since I just went through those steps I’ve always used yesterday, they remain salient in my mind and I thought I’d share them with you today…. just in case you find yourself in the need of a reset…..

1. Acknowledge The Feelings: I feel as if this is always numero uno in my mental health wellness posts, but that’s because it’s so important. In order to move on, one must first acknowledge that there is even something to move on from… which starts with being aware of the feeling(s) you’re experiencing (I know this sounds like a no brainer, but trust me, this is very difficult for a lot of people due to various reasons). Yesterday morning, I had to acknowledge that I was feeling frustrated + overwhelmed before I could come close to hitting the restart button. It’s ok to have those feelings. It’s normal to have them. No one can walk around with a perma smile all the time.

2. Take A Time-Out: If you’re at work, excuse yourself… if you’re in the middle of a conversation with your significant other, excuse yourself… if you’re in the middle of a battle with a toddler, make sure they’re in a safe place and excuse yourself. Bottom line, give yourself a little bit of time. I do this all the time when I need to restart my day, and I used to encourage client’s to do it all the time. Often when we’re having a bad day, our mindset isn’t in the best state, so many of the events that follow tend to further frustrate an already bad day. The time-out doesn’t have to be long… five to ten minutes tops. Just long enough to give yourself a new perspective.

3. Take A Few Deep Breaths: This always helps me center myself when I’m frustrated… and research shows that it’s effective as well. When you inhale through your nose, and exhale out of your mouth, it triggers neurons which send messages to the brain signaling that it’s time to relax. I personally can’t reset until I feel a little calmer, so this step is always critical…

4. Mantra/Scripture: For this section, I’ve seen some people say a silent prayer, recite a bible verse, go through a spiritual mantra, etc…. something to further center them, and help to reset the tone for the day. For me, I say a private prayer… depending on the situation… and it helps me to feel as if I’m not as alone in the situation. For others, a repetitive mantra helps to remind them of their purpose/goals…. whatever it is for you, let it be encouraging and in some way transformative in the sense that it helps alter the way you’re currently looking at the situation.

5.. Evaluate The Situation: Here I ask myself a series of questions… is what I’m worrying about right now going to matter tomorrow, in a week, month, a couple of months? Is it worth the amount of negative effort it is requiring from me? Can I release on something? Anything? If I take yesterday morning for example, I asked myself those same questions to help prioritize everything that was happening. Can I get through the day on minimal sleep? Um, hello, that’s the first 60-90 days of motherhood. Obviously not something to fret about. Is the fact that my breakfast tacos fell all over my white shirt really that big of a deal?… No. Spray it with some good stain remover and move on from that. Would the deadline matter? Yes, I needed to figure out how to get that done. The doctor’s appointment could always be rescheduled to Thursday when I have my babysitter again. Out of all the situations, only one still required attention. I was able to enlist the help of my mom (and get in the doctor’s appointment) and move on. Day reset.

Something to note here. Sometimes things just keep happening in a day. Even after we’ve reset. So, resetting sometimes happens several times throughout the day…. and that’s ok too!
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(Outfit Details || Joggers | Jacket | Harper’s Dress)