The importance of de-stressing

de-stressing

In my last blog post I mentioned that we’d had a lot going on and I was feeling rather stressed and overwhelmed, which has left me precious little time to concentrate on this blog and even just manage some day to day bits and bobs that I usually wouldn’t bat an eyelid at. If you know me, you’ll know that I’m usually really organised, and I’m not normally flappy and take things in my stride. Well the past two weeks has definitely put that theory to the test, and I’ve felt anything but the latter! 

Basically, the house we were buying fell through last week, as we decided with a heavy heart to pull out. It was lovely, and in a brilliant location close to friends and Freddie’s school, but the survey we had done brought up a few issues that would have been costly and a fair bit of work from the off, something we didn’t really want. You know I love a project, but lots of the problems were on-going ‘maintenance’ issues and it seemed too bigger gamble for us. 

On Saturday we viewed a couple more houses, eager not to lose our buyers, and we must be mad, but put an offer in (that has since been accepted) for one I orginally refused to even view because of the garden, but house-wise it is perfect for us, and has scope to extend in the future and we can afford to sort the crazy garden now at the price we’ve bought it for (I can’t wait to tell you more in a future post!). 

Whilst we are fortunate to be able to move at all, it hasn’t half been a stressful time, with my emotions all over the place, wondering if we’ve made the right decision to move full stop.

I’m not usually an anxious person, but these past two weeks I’ve felt tense, unable to concentrate on much else, have had migraines, felt my heart racing and like I could burst in to tears at certain points. I’m sure some of this may have been hormonal, but stress does have a lot to answer for. 

And I’ve felt guilty for feeling stressed like this.

We lead such a nice life and other people have much bigger problems, that I’ve tried to ignore it but sometimes you just can’t. 

I realised on Sunday night after a mini meltdown that I need to spend a couple of weeks looking after myself really well as I haven’t been at all, and putting myself first as I was starting not to function well at all, something that isn’t ideal when you have a young family to look after!

Doing the following has started to make me feel better already…

Just stopping to breathe and relax my shoulders and doing some yoga in our bedroom. 

Eating well consistently again and not just grabbing a sugar fix, and cutting right back on the old wine drinking i.e. none during the week. It makes you feel like you’re unwinding but isn’t great for sleep at all, and even if you’re not drinking to excess, once you have a glass you tend not to get much else done or really clear your mind!

I know that exercising and going to the gym again will make me feel loads better too and release those endorphins- I did my first gym session in a little while earlier today and it was awesome 🙂 

Phoning friends for a chat and just laughing- definitely a great way to feel better!

A cup of tea and a good book or magazine in bed early evening (NOT Instagram and Facebook!)

Spending a few hours working my way through emails and my to-do list today that i’d been unable to focus on has made me feel much better and on-top of things too #anal

None of the above is rocket science, but I think sometimes as mums and/or working people we forget about taking great care of ourselves and try and ignore our stress, when really it should be high up there on our priority list along with the school runs, laundry, work and the bazillion other things we try and cram in.

Here’s hoping the above works, and we start off this adventure to our new house in a positive, less-stressed way!

 

Follow:

14 Comments

  1. June 7, 2016 / 10:46 pm

    I know what a stressful time house buying and selling can be. For me, selling our first home and buying our current one was way more stressful than getting married, having kids or anything else. And when we went through that we didn’t have kids – another spanner in the mix! Hope you’re ok lovely, fingers crossed everything now runs smoothly x

    • Becky
      Author
      June 30, 2016 / 4:44 pm

      Thanks lovely, i’m crossing everything that we’re through the worst of it now! x

  2. Janine
    June 8, 2016 / 5:36 pm

    Well said Becky – it’s easy to be so busy worrying about looking after everyone else that we forget to look after ourselves. I’m definitely guilty of this right now. Our house sale and purchase feel through twice in the last year and we finally moved last month, with a two year old and a two month old. Extreme stress! My only advice would be to pay someone else to pack for you and to take lots of deep breaths! Hope it’s goes smoothly now x

    • Becky
      Author
      June 30, 2016 / 4:45 pm

      Ah thanks lovely- and poor you with the house sales falling through, what a nightmare 🙁 I am DEFINITELY getting someone else to pack up the kitchen, it will be worth every penny, haha! Congrats on the arrival of your new little one xx

  3. mummyofboygirltwins
    June 12, 2016 / 10:12 pm

    Moving is SUPER stressful – I couldn’t think of anything else for months and ours went fairly well. Good luck and hope it all goes well, you’ll get there soon xx

    • Becky
      Author
      June 30, 2016 / 4:46 pm

      I’m sure we will- like I mentioned to you at the weekend, it just feels like it’s been taking up so much of my mind! x

  4. Katie
    June 17, 2016 / 11:55 am

    Oh bless you Becky, I totally understand where you’re coming from and it is so important to slow down and take care of yourself when you’re constanty chasing around looking after a young family and working too. Having anxious spells goes hand in hand with being dynamic unfortunately and you are so talented. One thing I find really helps is to put your feet up on the settee and relax your tummy musces when you get a moment of feeling overwhelmed. My tummy was so tight I could barely breathe when I was feeling really stressed. Take it easy and lots of laughs with friends is the best medicine xxx

    • Becky
      Author
      June 30, 2016 / 4:47 pm

      Oh thank you Katie, what a lovely comment! You’re right, I do tense my tummy muscles when stressed (I should have a tummy of steel by now, alas not!), I just need to learn to take the time to relax more- feeling much better now though luckily xx

  5. June 18, 2016 / 5:44 am

    I often suffer from anxiety and stress and I couldn’t pin point what it is. But I think it is really just having too much on my plate. I’ve given up caffeine which a helped (although it nearly KILLED me!). Looking forward to seeing you next week love xxx

    • Becky
      Author
      June 30, 2016 / 4:49 pm

      Do you think giving up the caffeine has really helped? I LOVE my coffee, but could probably do with cutting down big time- I’m usually on 3 nespressos a day! Lovely to see you at the weekend Bab x

  6. June 20, 2016 / 11:27 pm

    Moving is one of the most stressful things ever and it’s no wonder your feeling the way you do!
    I hope by following your pointers you will get yourself back on track really soon x

    • Becky
      Author
      June 30, 2016 / 4:55 pm

      Ah thank you Emma- I’m feeling much better already which is good, onwards and upwards! x

  7. June 23, 2016 / 8:27 pm

    I am so glad you found another house to buy, can’t wait to hear all about it! I am feeling just like this too, I am in the process of moving too and it is stressful and has been a big decision. If you ever need to stress out over anything just shout me and I will try to help (or join in!!). Lots of love – and ps i love your new header! x

    • Becky
      Author
      June 30, 2016 / 4:56 pm

      Thanks Julia! Wish you were closer then we could have drinks and drown our sorrows over the stress of moving! Ditto for you- if you need anything lovely, just shout xx

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *