A Little Trick When You’re Feeling Oversensitive

Today, I went into Whole Foods in Hillcrest, San Diego to get some food for the grill. I’ve never grilled before so after I write this post, I’ll be Googling “how to use a grill.” Exciting times.

I walked up to the meat counter to get chicken, with my Bose headphones on (I love these things and wear them everywhere).

“You bumpin’ Dre?” the guy at the deli counter asked.

“No.”

“A podcast?”

“Nope.”

“Well, what are you listening to?”

“Imagine Dragons….”

“Ohhh, mannnnn…..”

Now, there’s nothing wrong with Imagine Dragons (love them) but the truth is, I’ve been feeling VERY oversensitive lately, and my music choice was only amplifying that. 

Like thin-skin-everything-affects-me-way-too-dramatically sensitive. (Seriously, did you see what I posted yesterday…?) I feel like a freaking LEAF IN THE WIND LATELY. (That’s something I remember from Landmark. They would call you a “leaf in the wind” if you were affected by other people’s energy too much). Haha. But truly – I am a leaf in the wind sometimes, and I want to be a TREE IN THE GROUND. (click that link for a great grounding meditation).

I haven’t been consistently working out since my tailbone fracture (6+ months now) and I feel so much more powerful, strong and confident when I’m exercising regularly. And one of the things that comes along with working out consistently, for me, is listening to upbeat music. 

But instead, I’ve been walking around listening to The Temper Trap and staring into the sky and wondering why I cry so easily.

After talking to the Whole Foods deli counter man, I remembered the days when I used to go to Barry’s Bootcamp 3x a week (yeah, that got expensive) and I only listened to hip hop. Nothing could mess with me then. That girl is inside me. She is me!!! WTF.

(I love emo music, and I love emotions, my friends, don’t get me wrong. I just have a tendency sometimes to amplify every little emotion with more and more emo music until I’m basically in a puddle, and this little trick snaps me right out of that).

I walked out of Whole Foods after that small but impactful deli conversation and I put on a Spotify playlist called “Hip” that I made a few years back during a more hardcore workout phase. Most of the songs came from Noah’s class at Barry’s. I have another playlist called “STAIRS” that I used to listen to while running the stairs at Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn.

Of course, Heart of A Champion was the first song that came on. And I actually walked home with a swagger. NOT KIDDING. (Yes, I walk to Whole Foods here like a stubborn New Yorker who won’t take a car, even though it’s a 2 mile walk).

“I got that can’t stop, won’t stop, in my veins – that’s why they can’t stop, won’t stop, screaming the name… Jenny! Jenny!” 

Hahaaha!

Who’s oversensitive now?

Seriously though, changing the music you listen to has a huge effect on how you feel. Change your music, change your attitude, change your life. 

Music is SO POWERFUL. I’ve been meaning to study music and emotions in more depth – and I will.

But for now, just spoon yourself a nice big dose of musical badassery and see if it changes how you approach your day. 

A workout helps too. Endorphins are real. And that’ll come next.

All we do is win, win, win #nomatterwhat

Like a G6,
Jenny

 

P.S. please feel free to leave your favorite upbeat/hip hop songs in the comments, because all of mine are many years old at this point…and I need some fresh beats so I can impress Whole Foods employees.