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National Relaxation Day - What do you do to relax?
Ross_Scope
Community Team Posts: 2,051 Pioneering
Hello, I hope everyone is having a pleasant weekend 
As today is National Relaxation Day, we want to know what you like to do to relax? Whether it be go for a walk or enjoy a lovely cup of tea, which thing or things do you most look forward to doing at the end of the day or week?
For me, it's listen to music. After a long and tiring day, or at the weekend when I can chill out, listening to music is my favourite way to relax.
What about you?
As today is National Relaxation Day, we want to know what you like to do to relax? Whether it be go for a walk or enjoy a lovely cup of tea, which thing or things do you most look forward to doing at the end of the day or week?
For me, it's listen to music. After a long and tiring day, or at the weekend when I can chill out, listening to music is my favourite way to relax.
What about you?
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Replies
or watching something to distract me , maybe a football match 😁
or a good movie or series...
mindfulness is good too
im distracting myself writing on here at the moment 😊 replying and putting up posts...chatting to members here Is a nice distraction at times
and can in turn relax me, if I’m not having a great day
Best Wishes
serenity2
I completely agree with you about this forum, it can be a relaxing place where you can enjoy some chit chat
Your other methods of relaxation are great suggestions, what music do you like listening to?
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my taste in music is so varied ..I enjoy jazz, soul, pop. Sometimes classical..whatever mood I’m in haha ...music can be so inspiring..and can help me ..I tend to put music on when I’m cleaning around the place, it helps 😊
🌻🌻
Best Wishes
serenity2
That's very true, music can be inspiring, motivating and uplifting, and it makes a great soundtrack to cleaning
@66Mustang
Sorry to hear that you've not been doing great recently, I hope things improve
Hope things improve for you soon, the community is always here if you need support
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Also, thanks for the well wishes
It is said that our minds are by nature calm calm and clear thinking but that life’s trials and tribulations, momentary and often transient though they sometimes are, disturb this inner tranquility in the untrained mind. The role of meditation can be to re educate the mind and give it control over these momentary fluctuations, hence the ability to induce caaaalllllmmmmmnnnneeeesssss at will 🖖😌
I find the best way is to count breaths to relax me initially. So I close my eyes and count each out breath from one to ten and then start again. Breathing at a natural speed and just very lightly thinking about the in and out breath. If I forget the number I’m on I just start again from one. This is also a mindfulness technique taught by Thich Nat Hahn but he also advocates counting both in and out breaths, eg in one, out one, in two out two etc.
I initially started doing this for five minutes, then ten, then fifteen etc and usually now I do it for half an hour almost exactly without using an alarm. As I said, the mind becomes trained to become calm and for how long. Sometimes I fall asleep but on waking I simply return to meditation in an unbroken fashion. Falling asleep is when the mind is too loose. Over thinking during mediation is when the mind is too tight. The guitar strings play best when not too tight and not too loose, so it is with the mind. Never obsess about it during meditation since that is inducing stress. Just relax and enjoy calm clear mind letting any thoughts pass by like little white clouds on a summers day.
i hope this might help you 🙂
@66Mustang I can walk in the countryside and I sometimes do as I live right near some beautiful rural places. I don't think I would feel safe enough to cycle though, I struggle to see things that are coming toward me or that I'm approaching, so I would likely be a danger to myself and others if I did. However I am interested in joining a tandem cycling club one day though since that would only involve peddling on my part and would allow me to use what sight I do have to appreciate the scenery.
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Personally, walking or trying to jog is really good for clearing my head. Getting out and about in nature, be it my garden or a local park is very calming. Oh, and chocolate.
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https://www.lionsroar.com/mindful-living-thich-nhat-hanh-on-the-practice-of-mindfulness-march-2010/
There are other articles written by him on the same website, any and all are of value.
best wishes.
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Gardening, reading and going to the park to feed the wildlife🐿🦆
I've never been good at relaxing though. I get bored and restless so easily and always have to be doing something. I've never understood how people can just lay on a beach or sit in the garden for hours at a time. I've tried to sit on park benches a couple of times a month (exposure for agora/OCD/SA) but even then I force myself to stay there for a specific time, say 10 minutes, and I'm not sure that's how relaxing is meant to work!
Yawn. The thought of it is working
Keep at it @OverlyAnxious. I find it hard to switch off and might try what you do, just sitting on a park bench with no other distractions for 10 minutes at a time to practice mindfulness. There is more information about mindfulness for those unfamiliar with it on this Mindfulness NHS webpage.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgztfRBc2jM
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I have very little energy or stamina, and spend most of the time with stomach/bowel pain, nausea, reflux, dizziness and/or light-headedness. Even a gentle walk or a few minutes cleaning is more exercise than I can manage without long lasting consequences. Bit of a sore point really as the GP just brushes it off as anxiety related but I'm not convinced. Also the fact he referred to it as my 'tummy' didn't fill me with confidence...
I used to be able to detail the car (lengthy cleaning, polishing etc) or do some gardening at my Nan's house which I guess I did find relaxing now I think about it! Now, I'm just stuck in a chair for 99% of the time which is extremely frustrating. I'm hoping to move somewhere with a small garden or attached driveway to try and get back into something like that slowly in small increments, it's not possible at my current flat though.
@leeCal
I’m sorry to hear about your health issues.
(should find them at the garden centre in the reduced section 😄)
That’s a really good idea and I have never tried to grow them 😁
Scope
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Maybe just start with a few small plants to see how you get on.
Personally I love doing puzzles, especially sudoku and crosswords, whilst listening to some relaxing music. There's nothing quite like it.
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Yeah i love the movies, i prefer the originals myself, but like all they have done so far, i have a thread where i show my collection off in the coffee lounge have a look if you want
I love jigsaws as well! Oh yes, low level social activity is the best kind of social activity. Chilling at home or outside with a couple of friends is a real mood lifter, I find.
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I have looked at your Star Wars thread and wow what an amazing collection😀
The Millennium Falcon is amazing😄
What a huge amount of time and effort you have made to have such a wonderful collection, I am impressed😁
I didn’t mind the later Star Wars films and my favourite one out of those ones is Rogue One.
Do you have any Yoda figurines? Yoda is one of my favourite character😁
@RAwarrior, glad you like the falcon it is a favourite of mine, glad you like the movies to i like rogue one a lot, as for yoda, i do have a few figures of him, latest was the luke jedi training pack with luke and yoda
Now for the most important question: who shot first?
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I am glad that your wonderful Stars Wars Collection is there as a sanctuary for you and that it is somewhere that you can go to to😁
I think the original Star Wars films are incredible and sometimes people forget that they were really pioneering especially the amazing open credits with the brilliant accompanying soundtrack😁
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I think the original Star Wars films were ahead of their time and they didn’t rely on all of the special effects that many films rely on these days.😁
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And han shot first, lol i have the original unaltered movies on bluray i found a bootleg seller on ebay, original all the way
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I really like the original Star Wars films because as you say they relied on physical models as sometimes I think there is too reliance on CGI these days.
I am really glad that your room is a place that helps you.😁
I am really impressed with the efforts you must have made to amass such a wonderful collection and by the way you have clearly looked after it😁
As I have previously mentioned although it is very different from your wonderful sanctuary, I find that spending time interacting with wildlife (particularly squirrels) really helps me in a similar way to your Star Wars room helps you.
I used to spend a lot of my spare time in a paranormal group ...visiting various places that were " haunted " ... I have a kinda sixth sense and can feel various things that some others do not feel or see.
I also played guitar , bluegrass banjo , bohdran , flute , pennywhistle and a bit accordion ....I played guitar and sang in pubs . I also played in a band for 20 years . ....they reckon between my work ( on heavy presses and production line as a maintenance engineer )and playing music , I got terrible tinnitus in my right ear about 20 years ago , I eventually went completely deaf in that ear, I could have put up with being deaf in that ear but my jet engine tinnitus continues 24/7 ...from the first thing I waken up until I get a few hours sleep with drug induced sleep ( prescribed I hasten to add) . At first when they said there was nothing they could do for my tinnitus , I was on the edge as I could not live in such a way ( without sleep ) ...I attended regular tinnitus clinics and tried everything I heard of to help my tinnitus....the specialists told me I must learn to ignore it .Easier said than done , if not for my wife and children and grand children I doubt if I would have stuck around this world . My tinnitus drove me crazy . Name any remedy you have heard for tinnitus and over the years I have tried everything I could think of ....or was advised . The closest I came to help was meditation .
I gave up playing music as it seemed to make my tinnitus worse ....I cannot hear anything in that ear now ....bar the tinnitus of course.
My hearing has went downhill in my left ear now ( 20% hearing now) and I have bluetooth hearing aids..... which help my left ear considerably . I just hope I do not lose my hearing completely .
🙄🤔🙏🏻
I am severly limited physically now due to breathing problems but I enjoy the greenhouse...I also have menieres disease and I used to get drop attacks ....I could be in the greenhouse working away and it would hit me ....it was like I was really drunk and the world started spinning ...I had to crawl on hands and knees into the house and lay in bed with my eyes closed until the terrible dizziness stopped ( that could be anywhere from eight hours to twenty four hours ) ...of course I had to give up driving as I could never take the chance of a 'drop attack' hitting me when I was behind the wheel .I stay in the hills and we miss the car ...but my family have been excellent in helping out ...especially in the last six months during lockdown.
Thank God my family is close at hand 👍🏽🙏🏻
My relaxation is i simply sleep.
I can sleep for Ireland given the chance.
I know I'm boring but that's how I relax.
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I'm sorry to hear that you've had troubles with your tinnitus, breathing difficulties, and Meniere's disease, but it's great that your family are so supportive, and that you take the time to do some gardening
Many of our other members also have green fingers. You can see (and post your own!) some wildlife pictures on this thread, and connect with others who enjoy gardening on this thread and this thread.
I look forward to seeing you around.
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Scope
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