Vacation

My 10 Favorite Ways to Relax

my-10-favorite-ways-to-relax-photo-joshua-earle-unsplash

Photo by Joshua Earle/Unsplash

It’s a stressful world out there. No wonder we need a break. While I’m not particularly stressed most days, having stumbled upon and adopted several effective stress-busting techniques, I still find that it’s sometimes difficult to unwind and relax. Fortunately, I’ve come up with some relaxation techniques that work wonderfully for me. Maybe they’ll help you, too.

Being With My Loved One

To me, there’s nothing more relaxing than spending time with my loved one. I consider him to be my best friend, so what could be better than being together, sharing conversation, cooking, discussing every subject under the sun, planning trips, going out to dinner or for coffee or shopping, even driving on vacation with no set destination in mind. When you have this level of comfort with someone else, it’s an instant pick-me-up. This is not to say there aren’t the occasional disagreements, but we treat each other with respect and dignity.

Enjoying a Professional Massage

If you want to have all the kinks worked out after a brisk exercise or physical therapy regimen, or if you just want to lay on the massage table and let an expert masseuse go to work, there’s nothing that comes close to a professional massage to help you unwind and relax. All those tight muscles, sore from workout, sleeping in the wrong position, hunched over the computer, doing exacting work of any kind – benefit immensely from massage. It’s one of my favorite ways to spend 50 minutes, or an hour and a half if I’m on an island at a resort where longer sessions are available. Besides, who wouldn’t want to splurge on something that makes you feel so great?

Hiking in the Woods or Nearby Trails

I’m fortunate to live close to a series of mountain trails. By close, I mean a few blocks away. No need to drive to the trailhead. A quick walk get me there. I love hiking and walking in all the seasons. Being in California, there’s not snow where we live, but it does get cold. Springtime, however, is my favorite for trail adventures, though. Everything is fresh and beginning to bloom. How wonderfully restorative.

Reading a Good Book

I’ve always been a voracious reader. When I was a kid, I’d borrow seven books from the library each week. Don’t ask me why it was seven. Maybe it was all I could carry. I made it a point to learn as much as I could from those books, often reading under the covers with the aid of a flashlight until my parents reminded me to get to sleep. I love mysteries, thrillers, the occasional love story, biographies and more. Diving into a good book is a guilty little pleasure that I’ll never tire of.

Luxuriating in a Hot Bath

If you have a Jacuzzi tub or a large tub with therapeutic jets, take advantage of how relaxing a soak in this tub can be. If my back aches or I’ve got pain between my shoulder blades from being too long at the computer, or hours spent behind the wheel, nothing eases the ache or melts my stress away like luxuriating in a hot bath. I like to use lavender-scented bubble bath or essential oils, but even Epsom salts will do in a pinch.

Taking Photographs

I’ve never taken a professional photography class, although I’ve perused several books on how to take great pictures. Over the years, however, I’ve bought a number of cameras that help idiot-proof my picture-taking to the point where I can be fairly certain I’ll come out with a few respectable shots. I love scenic photos, as well as pictures of various flowers and plants. The more unusual and unique, the better. I also like taking impromptu shots of loved ones and friends. Capturing someone’s raw emotions when they’re not posing generally results in some extraordinary pictures. I can lose myself on a trail shooting photo after photo, or spend some time setting up just the right perspective and angle. At any rate, taking photographs is always relaxing to me. With digital cameras, there’s no need to go to the expense of having them printed. Digital is so much easier to immediately share with others, too.

Watching an Exciting Movie

I grew up going to the movies as a means of relaxation. My brother and I used to go to the Saturday matinees to see the double features plus cartoons. It’s all different now, when the price of a single movie approaches the cost of a meal out. Still, whether it’s at the cinema, a rental movie from a kiosk, a new release out on VOD or an old favorite on TV, I get a thrill out of watching all kinds of movies. To me, it’s exciting, entertaining, and allows me to put aside any problems or worries for an hour or so.

Getting Creative in the Garden

All my life I’ve loved to work in the garden. Actually, work isn’t the appropriate word. It’s more a labor of love. I’ve pored through gardening books looking for color schemes and layouts I think might look good in the various yards I’ve been privileged to own (or rent). No matter how small the area, I can always find a way to beautify it through gardening. Not only that, but I love cutting flowers to create tabletop centerpieces. The fragrance in the house reminds me that this is the result of my creativity in the garden. It’s extraordinarily relaxing – although not the weeding part.

Practicing Culinary Skills

Thinking about cooking reminds me of the time when I was a young girl and I found a cookbook with 101 recipes for chicken in my mother’s kitchen credenza. She worked a lot and didn’t have time to spend a lot of time making dinner. Sometimes, my dad was the chef (he really had been a chef in his 20s), while more often it fell to me to whip up a meal. You guessed it. I made excellent use of those 101 chicken recipes. To this day, I love a good chicken dinner. But I also love following a recipe and getting good enough at practicing it that I can add some creative touches to make it unique. The family loves my skills in the kitchen as well. Besides, when you’re cooking, you must pay attention. Talk about being present. To me, it’s a form of mindfulness meditation.

Getting My Hair Done

Some might consider this just a girl thing, but when it comes to letting my hair down (literally) and having my hair stylist do a thorough wash, condition, blow-dry and style, there’s nothing like this kind of instant tension-reliever. It helps that she does a deep scalp massage during the wash and rinse. When her expert fingers exert pressure, I can feel the tension melt away. Granted, I can’t afford to get my hair done every week, but that means it’s even more of a treat on the occasions when I do. My partner likes when I cut his hair, probably for the same reason. I know what feels good on my head and neck, so I give him that gift as well.

 

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Related Articles:

Combat Stress with Mindful Walking

Why You Need a Vacation

My 10 Favorite Summertime Stress-Busters

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Why You Need a Vacation

Photo by Faye Cornish

Photo by Faye Cornish

If your days are filled with crashing deadlines, too much on your to-do list and never enough time to get things done, you might be more than a little stressed. In fact, overwork can lead to dissatisfaction in other areas of your life as well.

What a perfect time for a vacation.

Before you object that you just don’t have time to get away, consider the following very good reasons why you actually need a vacation.

 

Vacations help you disengage and reconnect with self

You can’t hear yourself think when you’re all caught up in forcing yourself to finish this project and begin work on the next. Facts and figures, phone calls and emails, the boss barging in with yet another hot assignment – no wonder you’re feeling frazzled.

Getting away from it all, however, frees your mind from incessant interruptions, constant distractions and self-imposed pressure. What better way to reconnect with self than relaxing in a hammock under a shady tree, gazing out at nature?

How about going out on the river or lake in a canoe, rowboat, sailboat or powerboat? Nothing like being in the outdoors, taking in the sounds of silence and just hanging out to clear your mind.

 

Taking time for yourself helps you unwind and relax

Rushing from one task to another without a break is enough to cause anyone distress. High-pressure office environments and frantic schedules at home and school do nothing to bring peace of mind.

On the other hand, when you physically get away from the normal routine, the picture changes dramatically.

Instead of reacting to what people demand, you can act in accordance with your own wishes. If you feel like doing nothing, that’s just fine. If you want to hike a trail in pristine wilderness, there’s nothing to stop you.

Whether you choose to be alone or in the company of loved ones, family or friends, taking time for yourself is just the right tonic for relaxation and unwinding.

 

Vacations help you free your mind

When all the noise subsides and you’re on the beach, at the lake, hiking, golfing, getting a massage or doing whatever you like, a curious thing happens. Your mind empties.

All the stuff crowding your brain, those urgent projects you told yourself you couldn’t forget, the massive responsibilities you felt you had to shoulder – they seem to melt away.

It’s not that you’re walking away from anything. You choose to be away, and for valid reasons. Research shows that people are more productive after they’ve taken a vacation than those who stick it out at work.

Furthermore, solutions to problems often seem to magically appear when you’ve stopped thinking so hard about them. While you’ve shut down the engine, so to speak, your mind is still humming away in the background, making connections, figuring out creative approaches, relishing the time to arrive at a sound decision.

All this from just taking a vacation? What a bonus.

 

This is the time you can be yourself

A vacation is when you don’t have to prove yourself to anyone. Not your boss. Not your neighbor. Not your best friend. Certainly not to yourself.

In fact, one of the great things about a vacation is that you can dress how you like, eat what you want, do what you feel like when you want to. There are no schedules to keep – unless you want to make them, no one you have to impress with your PowerPoint presentation or glitzy ad campaign.

It’s all about you.

Some people have a hard time being alone with themselves. So unused to having time off, too tethered to duties and deadlines and making a good impression they don’t know where or how to begin to enjoy a vacation.

Try it. You’ll soon get into the rhythm of doing whatever you like or nothing at all.

 

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