Trailogy: Music is a Must
Music
Does music speak to you?
Are you the kind of person who needs music to survive?
Tell me about your use of music.
Today’s Tips from the Trail:
- Create a positive play list. Use it when you need to “self regulate” or change your mood. All through the day we attempt to self regulate and move ourselves back to our baseline content space. That’s not easy for everyone.
- When you find yourself anxious, sad, or angry: consider what you are reading, watching, or listening to. Then:
- STOPP – remember this? When you are feeling emotional and need to get back to your day-to-day responsibilities:
S = Literally stop in your tracks or notice what’s taking up the real estate in your head and,
T = Take a deep breath – several slow in for 4, pause at the top for 4, out for 4, pause at the bottom for 4. Get your heart rate down to decrease the emotional valance.
O = Observe what you are thinking about. What is causing you distress? When we take a few moments the issue might not be the immediate irritant. It could be something triggering you from long ago.
P = Pan out like your are looking at your emotion with a panoramic lens. What’s the big picture here? Is there another way of looking at this? What would you tell a friend if he came to you with this same emotional concern? Do you have all the facts? Most of the thoughts in our heads are made up – they haven’t even happened yet. Ask yourself if you have enough information to get your panties in a wad.
P = Practice. Self regulating takes practice. It’s easy to grab a cigarette, or glass of wine, or other less healthy mood enhancing tool. Accessing mindfulness or other behavioral tools takes practice. Yet, once your toolbox is full, these mood enhancers are very effective, and have less of a chance of creating negative consequences!
So there you have it. Music can be one of those tools.
Just note if you tend to get stuck in melancholy music for too long, it has a way of leading you into a dark mood state. If you are the type to get down, change-up that playlist, STOPP and regroup.
Bye for now. Stay on the path. Happy trails, Allison
