OK, so that’s a heading I wasn’t expecting to write anytime soon… but… I have been giving my squishy-stress-snowman a workout the last few days, and I thought he deserved a post of his own.
In Australia, there has been a massive craze of things called “fidget spinners” and “stress toys”. I don’t know what it says about our society that children aged anywhere from 5 to 18 were considered so twitchy and stressed that such an enormous category of gifts was devised (and repeatedly sold out). Everyone who was anyone on the school playground had doo-dads that spun, or plastic-poppers-that-popped, or creatures of all shapes and sizes that were made of squeezy foam. My migraine’s Mr Marshmallow Snowman (Mr Mallow for short) is of the latter category:
I’m not ashamed to say it, but this little fellow was a gift from my sister to one of my daughters for last Christmas that ‘accidentally’ got lost on my desk. Mr Mallow is now a permanent resident of my workspace, and spends so much time being ‘hugged’ that his head is half-way to falling off (oops).
Does he work? You bet. There is something very soothing spinning his body this-way-that and giving him a squeeze. I do it mainly when I’m proof reading something I’m writing for university studies, but also when I’m reading other people’s blogs. Does that mean that I find blog-reading stressful? I don’t think so, it’s more that there’s a narrowing of attention that takes place. Aside from the slow decline of Mr Mallow’s appearance and questionable longevity, I can’t see any downsides.
I think the habit that I’ve formed (for better or worse) is similar to the people I used to work with who were pen-spinners, pen-clickers, knee-bouncers, foot-flickers, or hair-twisters… there’s something self-soothing in a repeated action. (I think it’s why I like EFT tapping too).
What about you? Do YOU have a stress-reduction technique that involves body-bounces, fidget-gidget-gadgets, marshmallows or snowmen? I’d love to hear!
Take care taking care, Linda x
The Mindful Migraine 
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