I don't think you are capable of just doing nothing.
One of my best friends said not too very long ago. At the time, I couldn't help but give it some serious thought. She was, and still is right. I cannot sit and do nothing. Even when I watch tv or a movie, I will be answering emails, creating PowerPoints for class, writing blog posts, folding laundry... I could go on and on. If I am being honest, I don't think I know how to relax.
A few years ago I went to a conference with a colleague of mine, a terrific line up of inspirational speakers, food, and learning. I was super excited. About halfway through the line up during one of the speeches that I had greatly anticipated, I began to feel strange. Really strange. I poked my friend in the arm, and told her I felt weird, our exchange went something like this...
Are you sick?
No.
Are you OK? What do you mean by "strange"?
I feel sleepy but I am not tired, like really sleepy.
She looked at me with confusion. Are you relaxed?
That's when it dawned on me! I was relaxed and it was such a foreign concept to me that it felt weird! I got all excited, of course, because it is still me, and immediately the feeling was lost.
I have tried many things to get the feeling to come back--pedicures, massages, I even tried to take a nap at Cocoa Beach (I got bored and went to build a sandcastle instead). I don't think the feeling is coming back, I don't think I know how to relax.
Lately, I have begun to wonder what this is doing to my body. I have done the research. Thankfully I sleep really well (even with 6 snuggly furbabies!), but I virtually never relax beyond sleep.
Research suggests that deep relaxation, like meditation, when practiced regularly not only relieves stress and anxiety, but also is shown to improve mood. Deep relaxation has many other potential benefits as well—it can decrease blood pressure, relieve pain, and improve your immune and cardiovascular systems.
Thankfully, laughing has the same benefits, and I laugh a LOT, LOUDLY! I am hoping for my own sanity and health that it all balances out in the end. In the meantime, there are some things I want to try to learn relaxation:
Meditation. I have done guided meditation. I enjoyed it. I did not get the relaxed feeling, but I still enjoyed it. Perhaps with practice, I can learn to use it as a means to recharge.
Exercise. I have never been an exerciser. In fact, quite the opposite. I make tons of jokes like, if you see me running, you better run too because something is chasing me and you don't want to find out what it is. This week, however, I have made the conscious decision to get at least 10,000 steps per day. I have been taking lots of walks and am actually very optimistic about the effect this will have on my mental health and physical health. I am actually thinking about seeing if I could do a 5K, a fun one like a color run, or zombies, or something!
My question to you is: what do you do to relax? I can give you a slew of things that do not work for me-bubble baths, nope, nature, nope. Please give me your suggestions, so we can all relax happily together!! I want to recapture my strange feeling!
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