You might have noticed – I have the potential to be a really highly strung stress-ball of a human.

I’ve written about finding myself standing in JB Hi-Fi crying because I couldn’t choose a router. 

I’ve written about finding myself curled in a ball under my desk crying with overwhelm. 

I get bursts of very high energy where I can’t create as fast as the inspiration comes, but these rushes can very easily spin me into stress and overwhelm. I end up rushing round the house doing fifty things at once and literally shaking with adrenaline as I skip from task to task. I even find myself frequently running up stairs in my house so as not to waste time.

And it’s great, for a while, but it can easily tip me over the edge into panic.

(I should note, I never used to have this kind of energy, pre bloody-good-life. I was bored and energyless most of the time, couldn’t be bothered doing anything. I had nothing to be passionate or excited about, and my incessant mind activity drained me. I say this so that you know – you can have this kind of energy too when you learn to tame your mind.

My naturopath even suggested I stop drinking green tea and coffee because although they make me focussed and energetic, it easily flips into shakiness and stress. I personally think everyone should get off caffeine; in our busy, stressy lives we now have far too much adrenaline and cortisol in our body already!

But despite this tendency to freak out; since learning the Bloody Good Life 101 techniques, I find that my highly-strung, highly over-thinky, highly anxious personality doesn’t really bother me anymore. Most people see me as pretty laid back and easy-going these days. Mostly.

There are times when I stress out, but I bring myself back to earth fairly quickly these days.

My secret weapon against panic is yoga, lots of #yoga.

I rely on at least 1-2 classes a week to help me stay mindful (and therefore sane!)

So it was no surprise to me when I realised that as my yoga practice tapered off over the last few weeks, my inspiration and drive slipped, and the panic and overwhelm came back knocking on my door.

Luckily I saw it coming this time, so I just went back to doing more yoga.

I don’t actually think I could live a bloody good life without it.

Yoga is exercise for the mind, not the body. Contrary to popular opinion, it’s not about being bendy or doing headstands on instagram. Though that’s cool too.

Yoga is actually a sequence of practices (including brushing your teeth and washing your hair!) to calm the fluctuations of your mind in preparation for meditation.

What we call “yoga” is actually just the asana (postures) part of the 8 limbed system of yoga.

If you haven’t given it a go, get to it! If you have and you found it too hard, or boring, or slow, try it again with the new mindset – this is for my mind, not my body. And find a studio and teachers that you like – if you haven’t enjoyed yoga so far, find a new teacher or studio or type of yoga.

Or you could do it in the privacy of your own home – I recommend Power Living Online yoga, but there is so much out there. Some teachers are all spiritual and woo woo, some are super down to earth and practical – either way, you will get the benefit of yoga if you can look past the omming and the shanti shantis.

(You might even find yourself liking the weird spiritual stuff!) I’m still half half.

I still have an annoyance reaction to most white western teachers with their tibetan bowls and shantis, but that’s just an old habit/ reaction.

I personally hate bikram and hot yoga because they trigger my nervous system and I feel faint even doing the easiest poses. Yet I absolutely love most other yoga – vinyasa (movement/ flow), power yoga, hatha, and yin. Oh my god I love yin yoga, it’s changed my life! At first it feels really slow and random, but afterwards you feel magical and calm!

That’s all I have to say. Go and do some sun salutations.