Do you ever face Sunday anxiety? There’s a combination of factors that can cause you to feel anxious on Sundays. Sometimes it’s job stress or uncertainty about the upcoming week. Or maybe you’ve worn yourself to the bone socializing. And then other times, you experience Sunday anxiety when you’ve had a relaxing weekend and you’re just not ready to give up that peace.
Last Sunday, I was in a big ole funk. I’ll share the simple trick that lifted that funk with you in a moment.
But I was just thinking back to my nine to five days as a social worker. On Sundays, I felt this vacuum suck the life out of me, as anxiety took its place.
Then, I remembered that those anxious Sunday feelings were there ever since I was a small child. I learned to manage my Sunday anxiety over the years, but it showed up regularly.
These days my schedule is more erratic, so anxiety comes other days depending on what’s happening. But last week it was Sunday. I was getting ready to leave for a trip and felt like I just couldn’t get through the work I had to do before leaving.
But last week’s Sunday anxiety really came from feeling so darn frustrated with myself.
I like to have useful anxiety and self-love tools ready to go out to my email subscribers when I’m traveling. And that day, it felt like I had a complete inability to focus on anything.
I sat in front of my computer bouncing from one idea to the next. I’d settle on a topic and then change my mind. I couldn’t get my thoughts in order (a common HSP woe).
I threw my hands up and sat on the couch teary-eyed. I’m sure you’ve been there…
After talking through it, my partner, Jason, suggested we take a short walk outside.
I’m a huge advocate of getting outside and letting nature work its magic. But sometimes, I can be really stubborn if it’s not my idea.
In a huff, I agreed.
After stepping out the door, it only took a few moments for something inside of me to shift.
Suddenly, I straightened up my posture and paid attention to my two feet on the ground.
As the sun graced my face, I felt the corners of my mouth soften and gently move upward toward the sky.
I started breathing deeper.
After a few blocks, without realizing it, I reached out to hold my partner’s hand.
And then, I burst out laughing…actually, uncontrollable laughter. He thought I was losing it for a second.
When I finally caught my breath, I uttered, “I was mad at you for asking me to take a walk.”
Nature really can have a profound effect on how you feel, even in managing Sunday anxiety.
You know this already. But if you’re like me, sometimes it’s a different thing to put into action. So, allow this to be your friendly reminder.
The next time you’re feeling down or anxious, get your booty outside…even if you feel you don’t have time, or it’s not going to help.
Sometimes making the choice to step into a natural environment for a few minutes is often all it takes to shift your emotional state.
When you do go outside, you might try these techniques.
3 Tips for Coping with Sunday Anxiety
1) Stand actively in mountain pose/tadasana to ground yourself and straighten your posture. If you’re not familiar with this pose, you can read about it in a blog of mine here. Changing the way you hold your body can deeply impact your energy and emotions.
2) Practice 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique. It can help to repeat to yourself what you sense as you go through these.
LOOK: Notice 5 things you can see.
FEEL: Notice 4 things you can feel (temperature, wind, warmth, etc.).
LISTEN: Notice 3 sounds you can hear.
SMELL: Notice 2 things you can smell.
TASTE: Notice 1 thing you can taste.
3) Here are 7 other ways you can use nature to treat anxiety in this blog post I wrote for the mental health blog, HealthyPlace, a while back.
Is there something about nature you find helps you to ground and shift your emotional state? Feel free to share in a comment below!