When you are involved in a poker community, one thing you are exposed to a lot is people's bad beats.  People love to share them.  They also love to share their misfortune, much more than their successes and good luck.  It's human nature.  We all need to vent when things don't seem to be going our way. 

I recently have been on a downswing.  It seemed like 85% of the time I was getting my money in way ahead and 85% of the time I was being drawn out on.  It happens.  The key is how do you handle it.  Thankfullly I have been through numerous downswings and recoveries that give me confidence that it is temporary and that I can work my way out of it.  But, I thought I would share some of my suggestions that might be helpful to others.

The theme to most of these is 'changing things up'.

1. Take a break.  This is about clearing your head and removing the bad mindset from your play.

2. Change your external environment.  Removing distracting forces like music, tv, IM's, etc can allow you to focus differently.  It can be changing the times of the day you play, or how long your sessions go.

3. Change your online environment.  Something as simple as changing the default background for your poker table can give you the feel of a fresh start.  Changing your avatar or emotion can also mix things up.  

4. Change the site you play on.  Each site has a different feel, blind structures, and competition.

5. Change your game.  Switching to another format or game from your usual, is a good way to clear your head and change your focus.  Play SnG's, MTT's, or cash to mix it up.

6. Drop down limits.  This reduces your variance if you continue to run bad and often introduces different style of play at different limits.

7. Learn a new game.  Playing a different game can completely take you away from your downswing and focus on learning or improving another form of poker.

8. Rail good players.  Identify good players at your level and really study/watch their game, to see what they are doing well.

9. Read a poker book.  There are hundreds out there nowadays that you can select one for most any specific game or area you play.

10. Join a training site.  Watching videos of top pros play as they talk through their thinking process can be great for your game.

I'm sure there are a number of others...feel free to add your suggestion in the comments!