Feeling Good Experiment

July and August were a super low point for me during the pandemic.  I decided I needed to TRY to feel better and started keeping a list of things that made me feel better and things that made me feel yucky.  Then I took notes about why.  Why did THIS walk make me feel great and THAT walk didn't?  The idea was a 50 day experiment to see if I could feel better (50 because I turned 50).  The only requirement of the experiment was to notice what and why and write it down.  Taking that information and acting on it was my choice.  It's still going because it's made such an easy difference in my day to day.

Here are 5 things that packed the biggest punch (no particular order).  The list has tons and tons of smaller things too -- way too many to detail though.  An example -- read the article, don't read the comments and you won't feel yucky.  But I digress ...

(1) Keep one small promise, daily.

The total is greater than the sum of the parts.  This is a healing practice to re-train your brain to trust yourself again. It can be any promise and should be small (drink 2 glass of water, go for a 10 minute walk, eat a veggie, meditate for 5 minutes, etc).  You begin to trust as you follow through with the small promises.  It gets easier and easier and you start follow through with bigger promises because you TRUST your own word.  It's a similar concept to Brook Castillo's baseline for goals only this can be any promise -- related to a bigger one or not.  Dr. Nicole LePera speaks to this in lots of detail.

(2) Peloton

I have been nursing injury after injury for a couple of years.  I could never get cardio back with any regularity.  I've used spin bikes, taken spin classes, even took a Soul Cycle class and I didn't like it.  Turns out, what I didn't like about it doesn't apply to a home Peloton.

What's great?  Bike is set and ready.  Class search engine and details are phenomenal.  Options are endless -- you can add an extra warmup, cool down, stretch, etc ... all your choice.  Numbers feedback for all parameters.  Peloton keeps ALL your stats about EVERYTHING.  If you are a numbers person -- wow.  If not, ignore that part.

It doesn't hurt any of my injury prone areas and my cardio is coming back nicely.  I've only taken the bike classes so far, but there are so many other options to explore once I'm ready for something different.  Cardio is a keystone to my happy day and I'm so glad to have it back.

(3) No Drinking

This deserves it's own post, but for now I'll say I had no idea how often I use alcohol to level-up social experiences.  I was drinking too much over quarantine, but I don't have a drinking issue in the traditional sense.  What I do have is an easy go-to dopamine hit to make life feel more fun.  Outsourcing FUN to dopamine.  Dopamine eases negative thoughts, makes things more interesting, makes you perceive life as better.

Why I initially stopped drinking is because it makes me feel crappy lately -- mood, hot flashes, body aches.  Hormones are wild and alcohol and hormones don't mix well.

Why I continue to not drink right now is I want to work at REALLY making my life more interesting, more fun, better experiences, better connections.  Alcohol (and dopamine from anticipation of a reward of alcohol) numbs real experiences, gives a false sense of connection and stops true desires in their tracks.

It's more effort to find a better way without that boost of a glass of wine, but it's worth it.

(4) Cold Showers

Cold showers hit my radar from a few sources and I couldn't ignore it.  I felt so crappy, I thought why not give it a try.  I feel happier after a cold shower -- who knew??!

Is it real?  Is it a placebo effect?  I don't know, but I feel good about it.  I take a short cold shower before I change into my workout clothes (about 3 - 4 minutes) and also end my regular shower with a cold blast (30 seconds - 1 minute).

Cold showers have a number of benefits and lots of options on how to take them.  Cold showers in the winter are no joke, but I soldier on LOL.  Something simple with a big impact -- no brainer.

(5) Ask a better question -- be curious.

If I ask the question "what will make me feel good," I get the right answer.  Maybe not the answer I want, maybe not the solution I'll choose, but the RIGHT answer is there for the asking.

I used to ask other questions.  What's the healthiest thing to do?  Can my pants still fit?  Do I really need to workout this hard?  Do I have to meditate today?  Answers to this kind of question gives my brain wiggle room to convince me to abandon a true desire.

BTW, the answer is not always DO the thing.  Sometimes the answer is rest or do the playful thing instead.

Being curious about why I feel a certain way (good or bad), being curious about solutions to problems, being curious about looking outside my usual box gives rise to much better questions too.  Problem solving comes from getting curious.  Curious about the 'why' and curious about the solution.  

I keep going deeper into my curiosity about my feelings and I'm kind of shocked what is under a bunch of layers.  Why do I want this?  Why do I get trigger by this?  Why a sudden craving?  

Up next ... 2021 List.  Stay well.  Later gators.