How to Get Through a Bad Day: 4 Simple Ways to Feel Better Now

When you are in the middle of a gut-wrenchingly awful, pound-your-head-into-the-wall-terrible kind of day, it's hard to imagine that you might be able to make it better. 

Well, you can. Here are a few coping tactics I've employed on the most awful of days (and none involve knocking anyone's lights out or drinking a bottle of vodka!):

1. Breathe

When you are having a bad day, one of the first things you do is tense up. When you tense up, you unknowingly hold your breath. When you hold your breath, you feel less capable of being able to function. When you feel less capable of functioning, you get more tense and hold your breath. (Not a good cycle!) 

Stop right now and do this:

Close your eyes and put your dominant hand (the one you write with) over your solar plexus (about two fingers under your ribcage). Inhale slowly to the count of five, concentrating on pushing your hand out as you inhale into your stomach. Exhale out to the count of seven, concentrating on pulling your hand back in (or pulling your stomach toward your spine). Do this at least 10 times. 

Open your eyes when you are ready.

Feel refreshed and more in control of yourself? It's likely you do. Research has show that breathing deeply throughout the day has a huge list of health benefits! 

2. Take a Walk

Are you one of those people who chains themselves to their desks, never getting up until a project is finished or an issue solved? If there is an emergency at work, do you work through lunch?

If so, you are not alone. I'm guilty of doing this, too, believing that somehow pushing harder on a bad day would make me more productive or help me to force a solution to whatever problem I was facing. 

You know what this attitude actually does? Makes you sicker, less energetic, and WAY more stressed out. 

Worse, when you are pushing all the time, you can't get solutions that are trying to come through to you. In fact, what you are really doing is concentrating so hard on building a wall that will be strong enough to overcome whatever you are dealing with that you are blocking all the helper thoughts and people and possible solutions from getting anywhere near you.

My solution is simple: I know you don't want to, but go take a walk for at least 15 minutes. Let your mind relax. Focus on the sounds of nature or cars or whatever might be in your area. Breathe deeply.

Don't be surprised if you start getting "aha!" moments while you are wandering around. Once you take your focus away from the problem, your mind can connect to solutions. 

3. Smile

Try it right now: Smile really big. Hold it...hold it...hold it... 

Now, notice your mood. Do you feel a bit uplifted? A bit happier? 

Very likely you do! When smile - even when you don't feel like it - you send signals to your brain that you are happy. In fact, neurotransmitters called endorphins (you know, the feel good chemicals) are released when you smile. It's a great way to feel better (and it's a whole lot safer) than Prozac!

There are a lot more benefits to smiling, but the best one is that you feel better - and so do those around you! 

4. Listen to Music

As a dancer for most of my life, music is absolutely essential to me. In fact, I think music is really what emotions sound like, whether happy, sad, excited, or mellow. 

If I really want to feel better fast, I jump in my Mini Cooper, roll down the windows, and put on some Pink, Cher, LL Cool J, or Justin Timberlake. I find that fast-paced music with a heavy beat seems to pump my mood up best of all. (Dancing around in my seat while singing at the top of my lungs doesn't hurt, either!)

Whatever music makes you feel happy, put that on. Smile. Sing. Dance like nobody's watching. 

After about 10 minutes, life will seem a whole lot brighter. 

While I can tell you that this works from experience, there's scientific proof, too. In fact, music releases dopamine (one of the other feel good chemicals in the brain), and that means you are feeling on top of the world in no time! 

What are your secrets to getting through a bad day? 

What Nelson Mandela Reminded Me About the Power of Forgiveness (And Why You Need to Forgive, Too)

Release yourself from the prison of your anger and hurt.

I have admired Nelson Mandela since first learning of him in high school; I immediately dove into books about apartheid, South Africa, and his life story trying to understand the injustice being done there. Looking for something I could do to help, I joined Amnesty International and wrote letters asking for his release. 

Seeing the news coverage of him walking out of prison after 27 years is still as fresh in my memory as if it happened yesterday. He exuded a grace and charisma that was staggering to witness, and remained with him to the day he died.

In his life, he inspired profound change at every level. He helped to end an unjust system and rose to be President of the very country who incarcerated him. He inspired people to come together, to believe in their potential, and to look for the greater good. 

He was, in short, awesome. 

Fast forward to last week…

I had been having a really hard week; the holidays are always a time when I reflect on what could have been, should have been, or might have been, and this year was hitting me particularly hard. 

In the last couple of years, I’ve had a pretty difficult time of it with some major betrayals and massive upheavals. I thought I’d dealt with my feelings about all of it and had put it to bed, but a lot of the anger and hurt I pushed aside was suddenly coming to the surface. 

In fact, for the first time in a year, I found myself angry again about being slandered and ostracized by a start-up company that I worked 80-hour weeks to build, simply because everyone was afraid of the (massively unstable bully) woman in charge, and refused to stand behind me when I stood up to her.

I also suddenly had a surge of old feelings of violation as I thought about our beautiful home being torn up by renters, and then, right after we had gotten things looking good again, their 18 year old son breaking back in a month after they vacated and throwing a party, ruining our wood floor and the beautiful wood tables which we had built right after we were married (we still have things we are repairing from this, a year later). 

And, I was ruminating about why in the world it was necessary for us to be moved to the (extremely isolating) middle of the country in Georgia right after I had just gotten back from a beautiful book tour in Romania. It makes me feel sick that I lost the professional momentum from that amazing trip, but the amount of life upheaval at that time was just too much to try to keep up with. 

You see, I’m a person who likes to know WHY things happen, and I was feeling mad at the universe for this particular crap-storm in the last couple years, mostly because it just seemed unreasonably mean, especially when I try to do so much good. 

In short, I was feeling pretty (uncharacteristically) sorry for myself.

And then I read an article about Nelson Mandela’s passing. 

On being freed from prison in 1990, Mandela had this to say:

”As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.” 

If there was ever a wake-up call, that was it. I realized that by holding on to the anger towards those that had hurt me in the past, I was willingly a prisoner of their dungeons, and I really didn’t want to keep giving them that much power. 

Worse, this is a fact I already know—one of the main reasons I see for an illness manifesting is old emotional wounds that were never dealt with and never released. In my work, I help people release them and recover their sense of joy and wellbeing. And yet, here I was, letting all of this get to me.

And worse yet, I realized this amazing man had lost 27 years of his life being unfairly incarcerated. My difficulties hardly seemed to matter, compared to that. If he could forgive and go on to be one of the foremost moral beacons of our time, then I could certainly find it in me to let this stuff go. 

So, I’m officially releasing all of it. I’m choosing to use my own mental and emotional keys to set myself free of this prison, so I can go on to be the best teacher and helper that I can be, so maybe—just maybe—I can do 1/100th of the good Mr. Mandela did in his time on this Earth. 

What do you need to release today, so you can be the most incredible person you can be? Have you ever experienced true forgiveness? What was that like? I'd love to hear your thoughts...

Do you (like me) need to forgive people or experiences in your life? I created this meditation to help (it’s helped me and many other people). 

***Purchase the meditation by December 17th, and you get 50% off! Use coupon code FORGIVE50.

It is an instant download, so you can begin feeling better today! (This is a really good gift to give yourself! It might also help all those family holiday dinners go a bit smoother. :o) )

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When you hold a grudge against someone, it causes more harm to you than it does to the person who hurt you. Releasing the emotional wound and finally forgiving is a powerful way to restore your mind, body, and spirit to health, happiness, and love. 

This powerful guided meditation makes the difficult process of forgiveness an enjoyable and rewarding one  - you will begin to feel better after the first time you use this! 

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5 Ways to Get More Energy Right Now

Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired? Would you like to feel more excitement, passion, and joy in life? Do you just simply desire more energy in your day?

I think we all do. In fact, with all that we do and strive to accomplish every single day, it is extremely difficult to not get run-down and worn out every so often. 

For many of us, our response to our exhaustion is to grab a seriously over-caffeinated drink and to keep on going, jitters and all. (Believe me, I have done this myself!) However, there are many easy-to-do methods to rekindle your inner fire – and naturally get more energy in your body, mind, and life.

Here are some simple tips you can implement right now to see an immediate impact on your energy levels.

Energy Tip #1: Take time to focus on the things that you are grateful for.

Do you go through your day feeling beaten up by life? Have you been overworking with little appreciation for all that you do each day? If so, it is easy to get stuck in a negative mindset – expecting that only negative thing will happen to you, and wearing out your mental state with a total focus on the bad things that seem to happen each day. However, the truth of the matter is that you have many things to be grateful for – you just need to notice them.

To do this, simply take a blank notebook or journal and designate it your “gratitude journal.” Then, each and every day, write down 5 things that you are grateful for that day.

What you will likely find in doing this simple little exercise is that you have a lot more to be grateful for in your life than you may have thought – and you will also begin to retrain your focus to see the positive that is happening in your life. When your mind is convinced that you do have good things happening in your life, you will feel less burdened – and that always allows you to have more positive energy!

Energy Tip #2: Surround yourself with images of people that you love.

How do you feel when you are with those that you love? How about when you come home from a hard day and see your spouse or partner, children, or pets? 

I am willing to bet that you feel energized – the worries of the day seem a bit farther away. So, bring that positive energy right in to your workspace! Make sure that you have pictures of the people or animals that you love, and take time to look at them throughout the day. When you do, simply say to yourself, “I am grateful for your presence in my life,” and allow that feeling of love and gratitude to flow over you. 

Energy Tip #3: Compliment someone. 

Pay attention to those around you, and offer an authentic compliment to someone. Offering a little joy to others always makes their day, and it makes your day, too. Try it and see how much better you feel by giving out a little goodness to others! 

Energy Tip #4: Get away negative people.

Really. Now. We all understand that being with negative, critical people is nothing but trouble for not only our energy levels, but for creating a better life. After all, the more that you are tuned in to a negative frequency, the more negativity you will bring in to your life. 

It is for your best that you limit your interaction with negative people. Find ways to avoid those that are negative, and to be with those that are positive – and notice how much better you feel as a result!

Energy Tip #5: Dream.

What do you really want to do or be? Take 5 minutes to write down exactly what you really desire in your life, and then visualize yourself doing and being that very thing. Make this experience as real as possible, imaging every detail, such as what you will be wearing, how you will feel, what others will be saying or doing, any scents or smells that will be part of this experience, and anything else you think would make the experience real for you. 

After you are done, notice the amount of energy in your body – it is truly amazing what just a few minutes of dreaming will do for you! Better yet, every time that you do this, you tune your mind in to this very reality, allowing that experience to flow right to you! 

Do you have other tips that help you to get more energy when you are feeling low? Please share them with me! 

Did this article help you? Please spread the love and share it on Facebook, Twitter, or to friends. (HUGS) in advance for sharing! 

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