Self care habits are a dime a dozen, I know. However, I’ll never stop collecting them—because you never know when one might lose efficacy and a new one may work better than imagined. It doesn’t hurt to have a few more in the tool box, eh?
Last week, I glossed over some tactics without getting into the nitty gritty. I’d like to get a little more detailed here for y’all, to help bring the idea to life. Not knowing the “hows” can make a difference between doing the thing and knowing you can, but stopping there. You deserve to have all the tools, so that in any given moment, you can choose the best one for you.
So let’s get started!
#1. Bottled Calmness
The absolute best anxiety-buster I’ve found (second to specific supplements, of course—not a sponsor!), was the “Scented Safety” technique. It seemed simple: find scents that trigger peaceful or happy memories. Easy, right? Except that when I started trying to work out how I was going to carry liquid smells with me through an airport, things got a little complicated.
Can’t just bring the essential oil bottles through TSA, you know? Or, if I could, having more than one gets unwieldy.
This is what I did step-for-step to work around that problem (none of these are affiliate links):
Obtain scent. (I purchased honeysuckle and lavender from Amazon.)
Obtain container. (I got these bottles, but be careful—some scents didn’t stay sealed in by the plastic cap. This or maybe this might work better. Let me know if you use these and how well they worked!)
Cut cotton ball or strip of cotton round.
Use toothpick or tweezers to wipe traces of the scent on the cotton—I found the scent gets overpowering if it’s dripped into the bottle.
Shove scented cotton into bottle with toothpick/tweezers and replace cap.
Remember to label your bottles! The ones I used have a hole to thread cord through, which makes opening them infinitely easier. However, the other types of bottles likely are easier to open by default, and likely leak less.
Say that five times fast! 😉
[The subscription has been reduced to $19.99/month, too!]
#2. Bracelet of Power
One of my fidget items is a bracelet I made myself. It’s nothing fancy—basically a bunch of braids braided together. But the end makes a poofy bit that I’ll mess with when anxiety starts ramping up. It acts more as a signal than a source of relief, but I’m sure it helps reduce my anxiety too. Otherwise I wouldn’t unconsciously do it!
Here are the steps for how I made it:
Choose your cord. This is what I used, but there are so many options out there!
Cut three cords and tie them together. How long? I cut mine three times as long as I thought the final bracelet would be, and it ended up too long. So your guess is as good as mine!
Braid. I don’t know how to explain this, so here’s a video:
Do this with two other braids, then braid all three together.
Tying this off was a nightmare for me. I tied all the ends around what seemed to be the most central single braid using a knot that I can’t find anymore. (It twisted the ends a bit, and wrapped the two other braids around the one. Technically it was a knot on either side. I think it was adapted from the fisherman’s knot, but didn’t allow sliding. Here’s a list of knots to check out to help.)
If you’re using nylon cord like I did, here’s where you melt the ends together to keep the knots together.
The joining knot ended up being a mass of knots I ultimately had to melt together anyway. About an inch of cord unraveled before I fused them, which I combed out to be fluffy. That’s the part I tend to play with, but repositioning it can be a fidget all its own.
If that’s not fancy enough, here’s a 9-strand braid option instead!
#3. Music Hack
Ok, this one might not be as much of a DIY, but still has a lot of brain-hacking promise. I use Pandora, but Spotify works, too—anything that allows you to create a playlist. It takes time to build, but over time I’ve created a relaxation playlist, and multiple energizing ones focused on generating different emotions (romance/relationships, exercise energy, confidence, etc.).
I probably don’t need to explain the how here, but it’s important to keep a good pair of headphones on hand and the appropriate music app on your phone for those moments you need an immediate game-changer. Just make sure you don’t wear yourself out; stick to using the energizing ones for at most an hour at a time with 5-15 minute breaks.
Do you have a DIY technique to share? Share it in the comments! Thanks for reading, and I hope you’re able to use these tactics to your benefit. 💕
Until next time, remember to follow yourself, always!
Thanks for sharing some tactics, TAM! It's always good to get more tools for the toolbox. And, even if people have heard of these before, getting the specific perception of someone that uses those tools may show an aspect that someone hadn't considered before. You're awesome! <3
I hope you find smiles this day! :D
Thanks! The scent bottles especially were a huge game changer for me, but all three have made big impacts in my life and wellbeing. If just one person finds a new took out of this, I'll be over the moon!