Dialling Down the Stress

The rise of the Fidget:

I truly thought my days of playing with childhood toys were over, apart that is, from the jigsaws I love to do with my all too grown-up daughter.  If I am honest, I am completely rubbish at doing them.   We each take a different side to start with, having of course been ‘oh so sensible’ and put all the outer pieces together first.   It is there however, that all sense leaves me.  Like a magpie, I am drawn to whichever brightly coloured area of the puzzle delights me, trolling through the pieces in the box, to find enough bits to allow me to gain a foothold in our ever so competitive (but not competitive at all – tongue in cheek as I write this…) battle to meet triumphantly in the middle. 

Yet I realise it is my lack of staying power that defeats me with jigsaws.  Conscientious in many other areas of life, I have no stamina with them.  My girl sees the shape of each piece much better than I ever do, and very soon, has to help me sort the pieces I gather into one whole part!

As enjoyable as I may find jigsaws, relaxing they are not!

It was with some surprise therefore in my grown-up years, that I realised how much I did begin to feel a sense of calm, playing with what I believe, according to my girl are the ‘in thing’ right now – fidget toys.

Brightly coloured, they are a kid’s (and big kid’s) dream, a way for parents to keep youngsters amused, and for me, and others, a way to relieve mild anxiety or tension through squishy repetitious action - something for anxious hands and minds to focus on, while helping to calm the nerves.

There are a vast array of fidgets, with some as simple and portable as a keyring size, providing something handy , when I am out and about and perhaps, feeling anxious about my IBS.   I love these squishy peas, whose little faces are too cute!

You'll be pleased to now, I’ve also manage to find a more grown-up version of the fidget, that I can use for instance, when at work or in company, in the form of a beautiful ‘spinner ring.’ Less obtrusive, it too keeps my nervous hands and feelings in check and is based on Tibetan meditation traditions, which believed spinning, to have a calming effect on both mind and body through concentration of thought.

There are various suppliers of spinner rings on the web, but I’ve added an image of some dreamy ones in sterling silver that are not too expensive and available from Orli Jewellery, here in the UK.  I urge you to take some 'me' time and browse their beautiful selection of rings.

I absolutely love my spinner ring and wear it continually, but if I'm secretly honest, I love my squishy pea pod keyring just as much!