Courtney L Sanders

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As I write this, I am 30,000 feet in the air on my way home from a work trip in DC. It was really nice to see my old stomping grounds again! While its great to “check in” on the city and see whats new and happening, without failure I always end up jam-packing my days, trying to squeeze in everything the city has to offer before its time to go home again.This time was no different. I was all over the city tasting new and old favorite restaurants, checking out museums, and shopping at every consignment store in a in a 10-mile radius.

Although I enjoyed my visit, to say I’m beat would be an understatement. I’ve had a lot going on these last three weeks and I am ready. to. go. home! As free spirited as I can be, after too long I start craving my bed, my food, my surroundings, and my routine. If I go too long without those things I can get a little “off” and overwhelmed.Lucky for me, as soon as this plane lands, I’m going to go right into what I call my “mini reset.” When life gets crazy and I just need to get my mental, physical, and spiritual “groove” back, I call “time out!” on everything and spend a few days getting myself recalibrated.The following are steps you can do to “reset" at anytime you are feeling overwhelmed. These steps aren’t hard and you can do as often as you need to. Also, you can do any of these steps on their own, but I find that if you do each one at a time, in order, you'll feel the greatest impact. Here’s the process I like to call my “mini-reset on life”:

Talk to God and get it all out.

This is step numero uno because I find that things go haywire when I’m not praying and telling God what’s on my mind regularly. If I just stew on things on my own, whether its a problem I’m facing, a goal I’m working on, or just something upsetting I’ve seen on the news, I start to feel very burdened and kind of hopeless if I don’t get it all out.Talk to Him like you would a friend, just dump it all out! Pray for guidance on the issues you are dumping then let it go. You will feel so much lighter, I promise. Here’s two great guides on how to spend time with God.

Write in a journal.

Journaling helps the dumping processes. I like to journal in addition to talking to God (though you can certainly write to God if you want!) because writing helps me organize my thoughts. When I journal, I write about my fears, goals, everything, without structure. I just write what comes up.I notice that as I do this, by about the third page of random, free-writing, I’ll start having little “a ha!” moments. Maybe I notice a pattern in what I’m talking about and can finally see a clear solution. Maybe I answer my own questions the more I write. I don’t know the science behind it but without fail, the jumbled mess I furiously scribble on the pages starts ordering itself into clarity.

Clear your to-do list.

Now after you’ve talked to God and dumped in your journal, you’re going to get a scrap sheet of paper and write down everything you think you have to do. Do it in list format — legal pad paper is really good for this. Write EVERYTHING you have to do. Write big stuff like “finish my term paper” along with small stuff like “fix my chipped nail polish."Once you’ve written everything you have to do, circle the 3 things that would make you feel the most proud of yourself if you finished them. Circled the 3? Good, now either get started on them right away or make a plan to complete them. This will help with the overwhelm. When you are done with those three, go back to the list and circle the next 3 things, repeating the process.Over the course of a few weeks (accomplishing 1-3 things per day is a good pace) you will have made significant progress and will feel better mentally and have less anxiety. If a new "to-do" pops up, just add it to the bottom of the list and don't worry about it. You can assess if its something you need to do right away after you've completed your original 3 most important things.

Clean your space.

I can't think in a messy space, I literally feel crazy. Maybe it sounds a little “woo woo” but I'm a firm believer that your outer environment is a reflection of your inner environment. If there is a lot of chaos in your life — say your house is a mess or maybe even there’s always a ton of drama in your relationships — this is a good indication that your thought-life is a mess too.A fast, easy way to bring some internal peace to your life is to simply clean up your house! Seriously, try it and watch how good you feel. Make sure you do a nice, deep clean but don't worry about being perfect. Just make sure stuff is off the floor, surfaces are wiped down, items are organized and put away, and the floors are swept/vacuumed.Once you're done, light a scented candle so the place smells nice and if you can, set out a vase of flowers. You will feel so much better! You’ve talked to God and journaled, so your spirit is clear, you’ve organized your to-do’s so your mind is focused and unstressed, and now your living space clean! How great does that feel?

Do a good workout.

Preferably something with intense cardio — a good sweat helps remove stress and toxins from the body. Not only will your body feel better, but you will have more energy for the rest of the day. Plus, you'll feel proud of yourself because you accomplished something just for you. I love that good sore feeling, it makes me feel really refreshed. Like the rest of these steps, working out need not be complicated. You don’t even need to leave your house — you can workout in your living room without any equipment or go for a run around your block. Whatever you do, make sure you really challenge yourself and get a good sweat in.

Eat water, fruits, and vegetables only for a few days.

Eating crap for an extended period really makes me feel awful. Every time I travel I gorge on all the city's best restaurants. While it's great to get a taste of a new city, my body inevitably feels taxed from all the heavy eating. To re-balance, I like to do mini-detoxes. My version of mini detox is either drinking green smoothies or simply eating fruits and vegetables only for 3-5 days.If you try this, you may still feel crappy on days 1-3 of the detox but by day 4 & 5 you’ll start to feel really rejuvenated. Laying off meat, bread and a lot of grain during this time (though I may still have oatmeal with fruit in the morning) helps to give your digestion a break, which frees up your body's energy as it's not slaving away breaking down heavy food. Lastly, I'll only drink water and tea -- ginger tea in the evening with a little lemon and raw honey is my favorite.

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