Not OT: What do you do to relax?

[PrairieGem]

Can we talk about relaxation a bit, in our Highly Motivated and Results-Driven community?

I'm working my way through a monthly healthy-habit-every-day challenge. December was flossing (happy to report I've totally kept that up! ), January was working out every day, and February has been focused on eating fresh produce. I've been pondering my challenge for March. It was going to be Fresh Air & Sunshine --getting outside every day and taking a walk or a run or working in the yard/playing with the dogs. But we're starting the month off with an inconvenient ICE STORM, so I think that one can wait until April.

Instead, I've realized what I really need in my life right now is more relaxation. Not just stress-relief/exercise/meditation, but FUN. Activities that fill up the well, so to speak. So I think I'm going to do a Creative Fun Challenge. Trouble is, that's kind of tricky, because my job is already creative *and* challenging (I'm a novelist), and so are my hobbies (I do historical costuming). What I absolutely DON'T need is any sort of epic project. Or anything aspirational, or anything with A Goal, or even much of a learning curve (so no classes). Just... play. [In fact, my doctor actually told me this, more than a year ago. "Go find a hobby that's JUST relaxing. And training for races does not count." ]

I've figured that in the healthy hive mind of VF there are Relaxation Gurus who have mastered the art of taking it easy. How do I learn this... without turning it into A Project?

Perhaps I ought to have titled this, "How do you relax?"

Thanks!!

[yogapam]

I like to read a good book.

[m42]

I read or go to dinner with friends. I just bought an Xbox one and gaming is very relaxing. Huge surprise for me.

[bubbles76]

Reading and tea rooms

[Karyn]

Originally Posted by yogapam

I like to read a good book.

Ditto that

[Loriann]

Jig-saw puzzles. I just get lost in them. I don't do them often but always enjoy them when I do.

Lori

[Usia]

Glass of wine and watching Aerial America on Smithsonian Channel.

[KarenJo]

I relax with reading, too, but I took a few years of fiction writing courses a good while ago and for me reading was just too distracting at certain points in the writing. And I empathize with the need to unwind from your job. I got too wound up in my writing and that was one of the big reasons I decided not to keep it up regularly. And I didn't even get to the promoting stuff, which I know I'd hate.

When you can get outside again, walking will be a great way to unwind. I do say that as a spoiled Westerner who has always lived in places that get frost warnings not ice storm warnings.

I also draw and have found a way to make that relaxing for me and not an intimidating project that has to wait for the right time to start. When I started taking drawing classes again a few years ago I found I was better than I thought I was because instead of a 50 minute high school class I had a 3 hour class where I spent one doing the pencil drawing of a still life that I then took 4 classes to do in pastels. I love doing those "project" drawings but found I was more and more reluctant to fit the time and set up and clean up into my schedule. So I got a not-too-good but decent small sketchbook and a toothbrush travel tube I put a couple of drawing pencils, small sharpener and piece of eraser in. The first thing I did was fill a couple of pages with little thumbnails and descriptions of still life set ups I'd like to do. So it immediately became a journal for ideas and practice, not serious art and I would draw the pear I was about to eat or my empty coffee cup. Anything not seriously set up. All good practice and got me drawing more.

The idea can be applied to other things you like to do. A friend from my writing classes who did continue kept a journal of character sketches. She liked creating characters and would do one page descriptions of characters not related to any planned project. Lots of them, especially when at an impasse in her current novel.

Knitting is also a good form of relaxation. It's a repetitive motion that engages the mid-brain which studies have found is very beneficial. The basic stitches are pretty easy and simple scarves in nice yarn are good for unwinding. Also squares that can be sewn into throws, washcloths, baby blankets. It is easier to learn the basics in a hands-on lesson if you have a nearby yarn store but there are lots of on-line videos. I found knitting could be as relaxing or as challenging as I wanted but had to curtail it severely when I developed arthritis at the base of my thumbs. Crochet also works and can be easier on your hands.

Years ago when I was first in college (I keep taking classes and got a nursing degree years after my first one) I read a book from the 60s called Psycho-Cybernetics. I don't remember, or want to remember most of it but during college I found the relaxation technique in there useful. Basically you lie down in a dark and quiet room and then consciously relax your body starting with your feet and working your way bit by bit up to your neck and out your arms just thinking about each joint and muscle becoming relaxed as you move up. No meditation, just take a few minutes to relax and then a few to enjoy it. Took about 10 minutes and made a difference. I haven't done it in years, though.

Hope you find something you like. Stress is a real health issue.

[adawn]

I knit a little for fun. Not all of my projects are epic, but one of them is right now. I keep at least one semi-mindless knitting project always at the ready to give me a break from the epic one. I can also easily pass the hours just teaching myself new techniques on youtube and trying out new stitches (not part of a pattern). Or browsing patterns, or yarns.

[MomOf2Gremlins]

Aside from reading, baking relaxes me as well as watching tv. Up until a few years ago I also used to make glycerin soap which was extremely relaxing and at the same time rewarding. When I have fabric and a good project, I also love to sew!