What are your Helpful Daily Habits?

hey there @DaeSayuki just wanted to pop in to welcome you to our forums! it's great to have you here.

we've got a toolbox thread here with some ideas if you'd like to check it out: Coping Toolbox ( what is in yours to help you cope... - SANE Forums

meditating with a singing bowl sounds really interesting, how are you finding it so far?

for myself, i like to have a movement-based activity (which is usually going for nature walks, gym or dancing in my room) and a passion-based activity (reading, crafts like painting or bracelet-making, coffee with friends, getting my fav food, watching tv-shows/movies) that i do a couple times a week.

@rav3n

My brain was thinking that forum was literally for tool boxes only. But I’m not into mechanical repairs hahaha

The singing bowl is going really well.

I work with kiddos who identify as being on a spectrum so they inspired me to find sounds and smells that ground me. Each singing bowl has a different note, so I found one literally resonated with me when I hit it with a wooden baton.

I also do Pilates and yoga regularly!

I would love to be that person that says I run or go to the gym on the regular but I love the life of a couch potato. I endeavour to be a couch mashed potato if possible, I’ll meld more with the couch that way

Hi @DaeSayuki

Like @rav3n I also like movement based activities.

That can be a walk, pottering around my garden, pruning, weeding etc, or more strenuous things like chopping firewood, or doing my sport.

My sport was cancelled this morning due to wind, but I still got 2hrs of table tennis in, which I do once a week.

I also like doing word puzzles, like crosswords, sudoko, ken ken, anagrams.

I went to a talk on drumming and the mind last week and that was very good and quite meditative. I got the business card of the person running sessions as I might look into doing it a bit more.

I'm not good with routine, so daily habits is hard, but I do like to make sure that I'm paying attention to how I'm doing each day, and treating myself accordingly. For example, if I'm having a Crying Day, then I try to spend some time watching a show I know will make me laugh, get extra hydration, and surround myself with soft and cozy things wherever possible. If I know I'm having a Good Day then I try to take advantage of it and do whatever I can to improve my daily life so that my next Crying Day is a little bit easier to deal with. Catching up on neglected chores, making any required appointments or phone calls for my ongoing Asking For Help project, and just generally "being productive" on those Good Days means that my experience of Bad Days is a little bit easier. Bad Days will always happen; the nature of my mental health conditions is cyclical, so accepting that and doing what I can, when I can, is my best coping strategy.

woah that sounds really cool, i definitely want to give that a go - did you just use any bowl or is there a specific type to buy? i used to work with kiddos on the spectrum too, their creativity and energy is so inspiring, hey! @DaeSayuki

that's so fair, gym and stuff aren't for everyone but Pilates and yoga are still really great ones! i actually find pilates harder than gym 😆 don't get me wrong, as much as i like moving around a bit... I LOVE being a couch potato. i'll happily sink into the couch for hours hehe

@Till23

Chopping wood is an interesting one. Im guessing you have an amazing fireplace?

My shoulder strength is very weak so I can barely hug a tree haha

Considering it’s 2am when I’m replying, I can only bring to mind a tongue twister with wood chopping.

How much much wood does a wood chopper chop wood, when a wood chopper would chop wood, when a wood chopper would chop wood as a wood chopper could, especially woody wood?

@Celestia1

Oh that’s really interesting! I know more people who would prefer watching or listening to sad movies/songs on their Crying days!

I think we’re one of the few people who watches the opposite. I like Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and some British or Korean variety shows.

Anyways I like how you accomodate to your good or crying days. I’ve been struggling to make anything a routine, so it’s nice to see how you are adaptive. I’ll do my best too!

@rav3n

Actual great question. I havent tried using a regular bowl as a singing bowl… if I break a few in that attempt, I promise not to hold you responsible hahaha

Since I have sensory preferences, I bought mine at a store, Qi Crystals in Caulfield, Victoria. I didn’t know how to google for it prior, so don’t do what I did and Google Witchcraft store haha. I think most “holistic stores” will have them. Otherwise I they do sell them online via ebay, Amazon, etc.

it might be called “Tibetan singing bowl“

I think I like how Pilates is just following an instruction every 8-15 repetitions of a move. Once I get bored the next instruction comes. While going to the gym for me is like 1-2 hours of time management and self-motivation. As a potato these are my weakness hahaha

I like to schedule time for Joy when I'm having a Crying Day, otherwise I'll spend all day crying. Sad stuff is good when you can't find the needed tears, but on Crying Days, I'm drowning in them.

I believe allowing myself to experience the emotions (instead of pushing them down or escaping from them) will help me with my ultimate goal of processing my trauma. But if I let my emotions guide the trauma processing train, I'll never get things like cooking, cleaning, and other self-care tasks done. So the comedy is both a kind of reward for allowing myself to feel, and a reminder that I can feel other things too, if I want to.