What's on your mind today?
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*snip* Looking for specific "What I do when in a funk 2020" input from others ... hoping to spark ideas for innovative / adaptive thinking, leading to change of headspace.
I hear you, see you, and feel you. 🤗
When it comes to work funk (which, if I'm being honest with myself, is a pre-pandemic issue), I've done the following while working from home this year:
EXERCISE
* favour morning workouts
* take walking videoconference meetings (unless there's an important slide deck that MUST be seen or won't be shared afterwards)
* do a "coffee run" before work or while on break ⬅️ Literally run there
NUTRITION
* meal prep the weekend before for heavy workload weeks
* order out responsibly and without guilt if the above wasn't possible
MOOD
* play a fav podcast, non-pandemic talk radio or chill vibes in the background
* close the curtains/blinds at ~3:30 so I don't see it getting dark outside 😑
* sleep with the curtains/blinds partially open so I get as much sunlight as possible (along with my bedroom's plants)
Take it all, adapt it all or leave it all. I hope others share some more ideas too.
Also, if your workplace has an employee assistance program (EAP) connected to your group healthcare plan, then you may want to check if they're offering mental health resources or services (or career coaching if this is an underlying, related issue). During the pandemic, many insurance companies have stepped their offerings up a bit.
Most of all, I hope the funk ends for you sooner rather than later @BMcC91 -
thank you both!
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For those in the Northern Hemisphere what are your plans to get through a more "house-bound winter than usual"?
Our winter weather tends to lean towards storms and rain. We do get the odd frosty morning when outdoor walking is not advisable, but most winters we only have snow on higher ground.
I tend to walk outside when it’s dry. Not a fan of walking in the rain. I use walking videos like Leslie Sansone. I also have some weights and resistance bands for strength training. I don’t use gyms as I hate the wasted travel time.0 -
@BMcC9
Yes, recently, I went through a couple of 2-4 days of the “hmm what are these feelings- I don’t appear to be my perky self.” It freaked me out, honestly, as I had to fight the food a little bit.
Here’s what worked:
I felt the feelings.
I curled up in a cozy blanket with hot blackberry tea.
I read a good book.
I chatted with fun friends about fun stuff.
I learned new things of interest.
I meditated to DavidJi’s courses on Insight Timer. LIFE CHANGING. 30-40 mins a day.
I kept walking 90 mins every day
I photographed nature
I created with art at least 15 mins a day.
I realized: I’m human. Humans get really happy & sometimes they get in a funk. I knew eating too much would only give me a 2nd issue, sand I didn’t. I did spend more of my calories in very dark chocolate! 🤣
In hindsight, I think Daylight Savings Time was mostly what tripped me up. I’ve noticed this happens in November every year for me.
All is good now, as I hope it will be for you Very Soon.
Check out Davidji
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@BMcC9 You asked about walking meditations. I’m sorry, I can’t refer you to a book or a video, but both exist by the thousands. I'm also sorry for the length below. I hope you can pull out some useful ideas.
I learned to meditate many decades ago. It’s my greatest love and a private retreat I can do anywhere, whether I’m alone or in a crowd of people.
A few basics:
(1) Observation of myself
Most people are caught up in the running stream of thoughts we have all day – planning, rehearsing, repeating the day’s events, worrying. We take this running stream for granted. Our thoughts and feelings go hand in hand. One fuels the other.
But I am not my thoughts, not my feelings, and not the body both are inside. I’m an observer who can stand aside and see these thoughts and feelings, without identifying myself with them – instead, listen or let them go by.
Step One: awareness of my physical presence
To build up my ability to stand aside and observe, to not be blown away by every thought and feeling, I can start with awareness of my physical presence. That grounds me in the here and now.
This awareness can include:
To follow my breath, just observe it. The breath is like an anchor that keeps a boat from drifting away in the fog. If I’ve lost awareness of my breathing, I’ve drifted away in running thoughts.
Awareness of sensations: my breath is cool when I inhale and warm when I exhale; my clothes on my skin; my feet on the floor; and muscular tension. I can start with my feet or my face and relax tense muscles up and down my body.
Our thoughts and feelings go hand-in-hand with physical postures. It’s said that you cannot hold onto anger if you relax your muscles.
You can give yourself tasks that function like alarm clocks – not to touch your hands together or to your face, or to stand with your shoulders back. If you find yourself doing those things, it means you’ve drifted away and can pull your attention back.
Many people take these simple steps to relax from stress and find it benefits them both physically and psychologically. That can be enough and that’s fine.
However, there’s a depth of observation to everything. One point of meditation is to see directly instead of thinking about something, to see without the filter of our thoughts and concepts. Everything is part of nature.
For example, that running stream of thoughts has a theme – to define ourselves. I am this, I am that, or I am not this, I am not that. Our ordinary thoughts are about one reality, the things in our day that occupy us, what other people think about us and how we relate to them, and also another reality, an expression saying over and over “Who am I?” or “I am.” Who is really asking this over and over, and what am I?
So awareness of physical presence, observation, and listening are gateways into understanding more about nature.
Step Two: the content of meditation
I try to divide my attention into two and three: on my body/physical presence, an equal amount on something like a tree or a chair, and three, on God. Dividing my attention and trying to balance all three deepens my ability to be an observer.
You can also occupy your mind on purpose, or stand back and observe, or both. There are many exercises from breathing to prayers to counting that people repeat to keep their attention from drifting away.
Meditating over the years has shown me that a sacred being exists inside everything and behind everything, beyond thinking and belief and doctrine.
So the content of my meditation is listening and occupying myself with this presence, becoming quiet enough and peaceful enough that I can listen and watch and wait.
In summary, meditation can be a retreat from stress, a state of peace we can give ourselves, or it can be meditation on something, in my case spiritual. Human beings have been meditating for centuries in all cultures. I find it the most valuable practice in my life.
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@BMcC9 another suggestion is to see a doctor if you have lingering feelings of being n a funk. I believe those feelings are normal for many of us as we cope with both the pandemic and winter (I think you're in Canada), but it's a good idea to get a checkup, too. Best wishes to you this week.1
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@Hollis100 I couldn’t have put it better myself. I have been meditating for almost 60 years. I cannot image not doing it.1
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I had tried to meditate in the past and it “never worked” for me. Because of me illness, I was chosen to be in a research study this summer. Part of it required a meditation for at least 20 minutes a day and some minis throughout the day. Before this, I had not known that it takes about 2 weeks of practice in order to start to find your groove and notice a change. I’m on 4 months now and it is a huge difference. I had trouble walking yesterday and had to take my cane out of its resting place. Usually this would throw me into a tailspin but I managed to keep all my emotions in check. In fact, I am amazed that I didn’t actively have to keep my emotions in place, they just did it on their own. Don’t get me wrong, I acknowledged the sadness and frustration but the sadness and frustration didn’t consume me. So weird. So different. I now run around preaching meditation to everyone.
But there are times that my body and mind just need a break. That’s when I get my warm blanket and curl up on the couch for the day. I watch B movies and eat popcorn. It’s wonderful. I believe that sometimes we just need a reset. I grew up in a family that if you sat down, my parents would ask if I didn’t have anything better to do. Just relaxing still can make me feel guilty. I have finally realized that I am doing something - I’m giving my mind and body the much needed break it deserves. This keeps me sane. This recharges my batteries. If I try to ignore it and just keep pushing through it, I am just looking busy but not really accomplishing much. I get grouchy. Zero sum gain. So now when I need a true day off, I call it a reset and remind myself that I am doing something really important and that’s not nothing.
When my brain rebels or I start to overly fidget when I am at work, I used to sit there and try to work through it and tasks would take so long. When I get to that point now I either meditate or go for a walk. I haven’t tried walking meditations but the posts here have peaked my interest. When I give myself this break, I can get back to productive work.
I wish I had known all this decades ago.3 -
@TerriRichardson112 Thank you, Terri. It's good to see another kindred spirit. Many of the moments I cherish the most have come out of meditation.
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thank you everyone! I am no longer "already feeling like an agitated wet hen" before the day even starts, as I wait in bed for it to be late enough to "get up well in advance of the alarm"
Now that I am out of that "funk-state" headspace and more into a "neutral" headspace, I just have to find the rest of my way back to "out-side office hours" more actively-positive than merely "no longer negative" both internally and externally.
(newly tasked) Incoming work has started to ease up - although it is still kinda frustrating to have to keep acknowledging each day that what is needed to close ~ 80% of the "open actives" I am sitting on are both outside of my control AND not going to be addressed by those who DO control it for a while yet because of a separate ULTRA-HIGH-INTENSITY urgency whose deadline is outside THEIR control.
I just wonder if (as soon as this current urgency has cleared for them) I then will get a flurry of multiple NEW incoming actives all at once ... which I will then have to "dump on them" (which I hate to have to do to them ... but I am just the coordination node between the main corporate task-out unit and the operational units within my branch.
And all of these taskings are over-and-above what they consider their "real aka mandated" work so they see them as "intrusive timestealers" (that I have to keep bugging them about, and asking "how is X coming ... do you need an extension on this?" and turn around and keep adding to my corporate-counterparts' "stuck open" piles by saying "we need more time" about the same item(s) over and over ....
Four work-weeks and counting until my Holly Daze break starts ....5 -
@readyornot1234 Thanks for sharing your success story. It's a wonderful thing when a window opens.
@BMcC9 Glad to see you're feeling like yourself again.0 -
Gratitude list:
1. I picked up some spiced eggnog flavoured coffee beans from my neighbourhood bulk food store yesterday. They only stock this for a short while once a year.
I have a grinder at home, so only need to grind a small portion every day or three.
2. the home bread-maker i got at a garage sale some years ago. We have been making a new (single-sized or empty-nester sized) loaf every other day since mid-march. such a wonderful aroma. Thanks again to the neighbourhood bulk food store which carries the bread-machine flour (both white and whole-wheat) For those who don't know, it is milled to a different texture than the basic all-purpose or bread flour in the grocery stores.
3. as rumour surfaces that more of the country might also have to go back to full lock-down for a while (the two biggest recurring hot-spots in my province already did this past week) ... at least THIS time we already have a small 7 cubic ft chest freezer in the basement - we are inventorying and writing out our pre-stocking grocery list this afternoon. some things were picked up at a high-quality frozen products store yesterday. The only place we can get potato-crusted cod. More moist than most frozen fish fillets and sooooo good . (we got the last box - they re-stock on Tuesday)
Yes, all of the above are food-related to one degree or another ..... but you will notice that they are also about the savoring of limited-edition tastes, comforting smells, and not-commonly found textures.2 -
Glad to hear I was not the only one in a "funk" state this year. I am better now. I didn't know I was depressed but I knew that excessive sleeping and 3 hour naps were not my normal. And the fatigue and zero energy was bad.
I seemed to snap out of it when the cooler weather started and I doubled my cardio exercise outdoors and re-started weight lifting and paid more attention to my nutrition. I also do carve out an hour each night to watch something funny on Netflix that really makes me laugh.2 -
globalhiker wrote: »Glad to hear I was not the only one in a "funk" state this year. I am better now. I didn't know I was depressed but I knew that excessive sleeping and 3 hour naps were not my normal. And the fatigue and zero energy was bad.
I seemed to snap out of it when the cooler weather started and I doubled my cardio exercise outdoors and re-started weight lifting and paid more attention to my nutrition. I also do carve out an hour each night to watch something funny on Netflix that really makes me laugh.
This is great. I am adding the watch something funny to my routine.2 -
If you google "situational depression covid" you will find plenty of recognition from medical sites around the world about how the cronic-to-date cumulative impact of all the various pandemic situation stressors plus the reality of "social distancing being a major best defense" clashing with "humans are a social animal" .
There are also self-led activity based suggestions that might help as a starting point and as a way to build resilience for "the next situational-based funk" (even in the best of times, positive major-life-events that affect what has been your daily reality-routine can be stressors, such as well-earned retirement, moving to a new community, birth of a much wanted child or grandchild etc)
Two points from a longer list found here: https://healthline.com/health/depression/how-to-fight-depression
15. You can also use this as a way to practice gratitude
When you do something you love, or even when you find a new activity you enjoy, you may be able to boost your mental health more by taking time to be thankful for it.
Research shows gratitude can have lasting positive effects on your overall mental health.
What’s more, writing down your gratitude — including writing notes to others — can be particularly meaningful.
16. Incorporating meditation may help ground your thoughts
Stress and anxiety can prolong your depression symptoms. Finding relaxation techniques can help you lower stress and invite more joy and balance into your day.
Research suggests activities like meditation, yoga, deep breathing, and even journaling may help you improve your sense of well-being and feel more connected to what’s happening around you.
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Back in March-April, several members were using the corresponding "What's On Your Mind, Today" page for 3-point Daily Gratitude entries. Good for themselves, and tended to give a boost to others reading them.
I propose to re-start that for myself (as of yesterday) and continue it on into December. I invite anyone else who wishes to, to do the same.
If you don't feel comfortable with the idea of writing something like that here, maybe keep a private "hard-copy" Gratitude list, but gain a sense of support from reading what others do post.
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Monday Nov 23 Gratitude List
1. I don't have to commute-by-car (or public transit) to work through the winter. There as significant 7-hour snow-fall starting mid-yesterday afternoon, with ice pellets on top though the night .... funny how people tend to forget how to "drive to conditions" for the first snow-fall or two each year.
2. I have a warm house to work in, and will continue to work-off-site through the winter months (and likely longer, as even after a working vaccine finally gets released, my segment would be practically the last to "need even a part-time on-site presence" )
3. My income is such that I can afford to turn up the heat if required without worrying about breaking the budget.
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@BMcC9 - great idea.
I started journaling 2 weeks ago. I do my daily appreciations at night after dinner so I will post yesterday’s.
1. I have poor upper body strength and have been doing upper body lifting more consistently. I noticed I could lift heavier weights and even caught a glimpse of definition in the mirror. Not bad for a grandma.
2. It was lovely weather for our walk/hike in the forest. I love the leaves crunching under my feet and the smell of balsam. I am appreciative that I live in an area with many options for miles and miles of trails for walking, hiking, and biking through forests.
3. After the walk/hike, I had a glorious hot shower that soothed my body and mind. It wasn’t a long shower as I am trying to be conscious of water usage, but it was perfect.3 -
I am thankful for many things. What comes to mind, in my own order of priority:
1. Health: My immediate family including myself, are healthy. This is numero uno!
2. Oxygen: The skies are now blue and the air is cleaner than over the summer. We lived through smoky conditions for months due to the forest fires and with having asthma, I could not go out. Never, ever did I realize how important good clean air is....!
3. Nature and Movement: I live in a community that backs up to a national forest, so I can hike and run daily without having to get in the car.
4. No Work Stress: I am on $5/hr unemployment and while I should be miserable, I am not. I have no work stress, no pressure, no rushing, don't need to travel on a plane for work, can take my time looking for work, and no financial stress since my mortgage was paid off. I have the gift of time, which allows me to prepare better and healthier meals at a quarter of the cost of restaurants. There is a good side to being laid off and sidelined for awhile.
5. Internet is Up! : Our internet is working well. It had gone down a few times and never did I realize how much I appreciated good, high speed internet!
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Tuesday Nov 24 Gratitude List
- Rachel Lawrance ("The Girl with the Pilates mat" Youtube channel out of UK) - she has a 7 minute stretching&balance routine ..... (and lots of other pre-recorded classes of varying lengths and intensity levels)
- The developers of the "Cross-stitch world" (pseudo-cross-stitch embroidery app on my tablet) - a relatively new personal mental-wellness / de-stress activity
- The developers of "Walk It Out" exergame for the (original) Wii. It has been around since 2007 or 2008 and I have been using it regularly for ... probably nearly a decade now. It is always great-weather early spring on Rhythm Island .... and no day's walk is like any preceding day (I get to choose which way I turn at any intersection) ... and when I finish a "tour" (open absolutely the last item available) - I can start a "new tour" with a totally different Island Development Plan strategy about what area I will unlock/develop first. And I get to "open a rainbow" every day .... the 7 "parts of the rainbows" are never the same place twice, and could be ANYWHERE that has been "unlocked"
3 - Rachel Lawrance ("The Girl with the Pilates mat" Youtube channel out of UK) - she has a 7 minute stretching&balance routine ..... (and lots of other pre-recorded classes of varying lengths and intensity levels)
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My daily appreciations as diaries last night:
1. My son-in-law is starting to truly recover from a medical procedure that had him sidelined for 2 weeks.
2. My husband made apple pies (he makes the best pies) and I am driving a little over three hours round trip to drop one off at my parents house and wave and blow kisses through the window. This is the first Thanksgiving they (and my mom’s sister) will not be with their 5 children, spouses, grandchildren and some with spouses/significant others, and great grandchildren. There are 35 of us in all. I am hopeful that next year will be better and we will all be present and accounted for.
3. I appreciate that my 70 year old aunt, a retired nurse, lives a few houses down from my 82 and 80 year old mom (also a retired nurse) and dad. They are perfectly independent but far enough away to make it difficult to pop in to check on them more than on a weekly basis. It upsets them that I insist on standing outside in the cold.
4. My brother lives a 3 hour drive from my daughter and her family and he is going to spend most of December through mid January with them. They both miss family and can’t fly up here for the holidays nor can we fly down there. I appreciate that they have each other.
5. My husband is an arborist and works outdoors, socially distanced, all day. It poured all day (Monday) and we got to spend some much needed time together. With all the wind and storms, he has been straight out since September.
6. Our youngest and his girlfriend are coming over on Saturday and we are going to eat lunch outside. My husband is going to build a fire in a make shift pit and we will put chairs around it.6 -
Nov 25 Gratitude List
- Fresh potable water at the turn of a tap.
- My basic-necessities stores are all a short walk away. Even in winter, I would only need to drive to grocery store / drug store / hardware store (for DH's 'craft supplies') if a large/heavy or awkwardly shaped purchase order planned. (We plan our trips for ~ 1 hr before closing, when almost no-one else is there.)
- the morning commute is now a flight of 14 stairs to the second floor (it is snowing again as I type this .... )
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Nov 26 Gratitude List
- A third "early morning win" in a row .... grateful to have discovered the 7-minute balance&flexibility routine on Youtube I am making a point of starting my day with now
- When I feel like I am not accomplishing anything (or it seems to be taking sooooooo long) I go see what's new on this thread https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10800930/did-you-lose-anything-besides-weight#latest It makes you think beyond the scale, and can be quite funny in places ...
- the smell of fresh coffee finishing brewing as I type this
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November 26 Gratitude List
1. Even though my family won’t be together on this Thanksgiving, I spoke with all of them and am grateful everyone is healthy.
2. I slept late this morning.
3. I made pumpkin purée from sugar pumpkins this morning and I am drying the seeds and am going to roast them - love pumpkin seeds.1 -
@readyornot1234 how do you feel about dark chocolate .... 'cause dark-chocolate Bark Thins with pumpkin seeds are fan-TAST-ic imo .... (only sometimes available - mostly I "have to settle for" Bark Thins with pretzel bits as DH can't have the "with almond bits" type and neither of us are interested in the "with shedded coconut" version. )0
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@readyornot1234 how do you feel about dark chocolate .... 'cause dark-chocolate Bark Thins with pumpkin seeds are fan-TAST-ic imo .... (only sometimes available - mostly I "have to settle for" Bark Thins with pretzel bits as DH can't have the "with almond bits" type and neither of us are interested in the "with shedded coconut" version. )
I actually have some sea salt dark choc bark thins. I will eat some pumpkin seeds with them. A bite of each at a time. I’ve only tried the almon one and the sea salt ones. Pretzel sounds good1 -
Copied from 11/26:snowshoe072 wrote: »Happy Thanksgiving to all my UAC buddies please be safe and enjoy your holiday will post later today. And yes seems to be many creepy friend requests going on out there received several messages from others is there a way to report inappropriate behaviors?
Sorry you're having this issue. You can block people under your Mail setting.
There's also a Contact Us link at the bottom of the screen on the website (don't know if this is the same on a phone). That link takes you into a bottomless labyrinth of articles, but there should be a new request place at the top of the screen by your name:
https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us
A nature profile photo stopped the creepy messages for me.0 -
Please help me/us stop whomever is sending inappropriate messages.
We have never had this issue before, so I reviewed what I could find on MFP. Please circulate this information..
How do I report inappropriate users?
1 month ago Updated
We care deeply about having a site that is a safe, healthy, and supportive place for our members. We rely on the help of users like you to report concerns about anyone using the site in a way that violates our site's Terms and Conditions.
If you wish to report another user, please contact us:
On the web: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/help then click “Submit a Request” on the top of the page
On Android and iOS: Help > then tap “Contact Support”4 -
@Hollis100 Thanks for posting the information on blocking inappropriate people.1
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readyornot1234 wrote: »@readyornot1234 dark-chocolate Bark Thins with pumpkin seeds are fan-TAST-ic imo .... (mostly I "have to settle for" Bark Thins with pretzel bits )
I actually have some sea salt dark choc bark thins. I will eat some pumpkin seeds with them. A bite of each at a time. I’ve only tried the almon one and the sea salt ones. Pretzel sounds good
I haven't seen the "just sea salt" version in my area. I will probably get some pumkpin seeds (either pre-roasted or roast-myself) with the next Bulk Food Store order.
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