For those of you who aren’t a fan of tarot, good news! Today’s post is more focused on mental health although tarot will appear briefly. There will be no spreads, decks or tarot reading though. I’m not going to lie, i’ve been feeling pretty ropey of late. I think part of it is poor sleep which I am working on, but unfortunately it’s been hot in the UK lately and my bedroom has been around 26ºC/78.8ºF 🥵 Sadly, air-con is not common in the UK and all my efforts have done nothing to cool the room. So, as I need to feel better I thought I’d share my tricks to feel better with all of you.

Healthy Tricks

1. Go For A Walk. I know, I know! If one more person tell me to exercise to improve my mood I’ll punch them in the face! Tha sad fact is though that it does help. Exercise releases endorphins and removed the stress hormone cortisol so that will have a beneficial effect on your mood. However, this is on my list of tricks to feel better for one critical reason – music! While I walk I put on earphones and blast my happiest (or sometimes angriest) tunes and they do lift my mood. Before you ask, it doesn’t work as well to just listen to music, I need to be moving.
2. Watch Something Soothing. When I’m sad, I don’t want to watch something funny which is counterintuitive I know! I am not in a place to find things funny, so it just annoys me instead. That’s why I choose things I’ve watched a million times and honestly feel like a great big hug 🤗 My top three are The Crown (Claire Foy/Matt Smith seasons only), Charmed and Numbers.
3. Watch Something Sad. Sometimes, when I feel low enough, I need to have a good cry. One of my revelations from therapy is that my emotions are pretty closed off, which explains why I tend to feel numb a lot and very rarely cry. When I feel strongly that crying will help I’ll throw on something I know will make me tear up. Even a few tears will help me release some emotion and feel better.
4. Talk. I now have weekly therapy but unfortunately my sad periods are not helpful enough to coincide with my sessions. So, when I feel like I need to talk about my feelings then my sister Jayne is the first one I’ll turn to bit sometimes I’ll speak to Mike, my husband. Sometimes talking about how i;m feeling helps me untangle what’s going on and feel better.
5. Do A Card Reading. I said tarot would make an appearance and here it is! If I struggle to know why I’m feeling the way I am or what to do about it I’ll draw some cards. Sometimes I use tarot but I have some very healing oracle decks and if I feel like I need a soft approach. Tarot tends to be a bit less cuddly in my opinion, and sometimes a hug is what I need. That’s when my Self-Care Wisdom Cards and Believe In Your Own Magic oracle fit the bill.

Not So Healthy Tricks To Feel Better

Naturally, it’s better that anything I do to feel better would be a healthy way to cope with my feelings. Believe it or not, though, I’m a human being and do have a depressingly long history of doing things that are not good for me. I’m still trying to discover the cause of my self destructive behaviour in therapy but honestly at the moment I think it’s just easy and familiar.

Please understand I am not suggesting you follow my examples below, I just want you to know that if you do it too you’re not alone.

1. Eat. I am such a comfort eater! I primarily turn to takeaways and sweet treats when I’m feeling down. The takeaways are firstly because I enjoy them, but also because a low mood is always accompanied with low energy. I feel like I barely have the energy to exist much less cook. The sweet treats are just for the enjoyment and the sugar rush. I know it is not good tom”eat” your emotions but I struggle to break this pattern of behaviour.
2. Buy Things. How much of a cliche am I? Eating and retail therapy! I should specify I do not do the typical girly shopping. No clothes, shoes, bags, makeup etc. I am simply not interested. What I will buy is new tarot decks, oracle decks, crystals and spell ingredients. Decks in particular give me a hit of joy but of course it’s only temporary. I’m in a pretty good place financially, but I do have some things I need to pay off. I could be in a much better position if I stopped buying things I don’t really need.
3. Wallow. Sometimes we need to feel our feelings, it’s a good thing. We need to sort through where these feelings are coming from and try to process them, however difficult that task is. What is not good is wallowing and sinking into a victim “oh woe is me” mentality. My parents are gold medalists at this so I avoid it at all costs. Occasionally, though, I do wallow for a day or two before I either snap myself out of it or Jayne/Mike stick a boot up my ass.
4. Be A Complete Cow. Sometimes my sadness translates to anger and frustration and I take it out on those around me. I used the word cow, but b*tch also applies. I can be irritable and downright unpleasant. It is a fairly natural part of depression and it might make you feel better to let off steam but you’ll feel even worse afterwards. My family is very supportive and attacking them is not a good thing to do.
5. Try To Pretend It’s Not Happening. In my list of unhealthy tricks to feel better this might sound like it should be healthy and, depending on how you do it, it can be. If you try to get out and do stuff when you feel sad you may feel better, especially if it’s a fun activity. The problem is I dive headfirst into denial! If I ignore it and do MORE AND MORE stuff then everything will be fine. The problem is my depression is just waiting for me to stop, and by the time I do I’m so exhausted I feel even worse.

What Do You Do?

those were my tricks to feel better, both healthy and unhealthy ones. Do any of them resonate with you? If so, or if you’d like to share any tricks of your own, please let me know in the comment 😃