Since I’ve had a lot of experience with shit days (both my own and my clients) I have a few good answers to that question… so I thought I would share them.

Breathe  – This sounds so obvious! At the same time, it’s not just about breathing in and out. The way you breath has a huge impact on your ability to handle stress and emotions. The simplest way to explain it is this – lie down on your stomach and breath in. If your hips lift up off the ground a bit then you are doing it well. If only your upper body moves (and probably only your chest) then you are not. Breathing into your centre (the centre of gravity of the body) helps stabilize your energy field and increases your ability to handle what happens in your life. If you shallow breath (which lots of us do) it activates your ‘Fight, Flight, Faint, Freeze’ mechanism and increases emotional instability. Give it a shot for yourself and see what happens. Next time you are in a moment of stress take a couple of deep breaths to your centre and feel the difference. You can turn a day of poo around in no time.

Choose– The truth for me is that you are the King (or Queen) in your world. That means that you always have a choice. There is nothing that you ‘Have to’ do. Just because the day has started off a certain way doesn’t mean it’s going to finish that way. Make a new choice for the rest of the day and use your intention to create something different!

Breathe – This one is more than important enough to hold more than one place. Practice breathing as above everyday… not just on the days that turn to shit.

Slow down– When emotions rise, our ability to use our intelligence falls. If you are having one of those days the tendency is to rush and attempt to get things done. I’ve found this only leads to more drama! Take a slower pace that day and get done what you can without rushing.

Express Gratitude – You are a creative being. One of the ways you create is with your attention. In fact, you will create with whatever it is that holds your attention. So if your attention is on the frustration of the what has happened, you will create more of that- more frustration, more annoyance, more poo! If you place your attention on what you are grateful for, you will create more of that.

By the way- it can be difficult to do just one of the things listed here. When you do all of them consistently with the intention it is so much easier.

Hope this helps the next time you have ‘one of those days.

Mike Irving