What do you like to do when you seriously need a breather? This semester I must admit has been trying. Are there coping skills you use to deal with stress that seem to be reliable and recommendable?
I would recommend:
Meditation: There’s autogenic meditation, which helps refine the breathing cycle in people who don’t cope with stress well, or for example for people with poor lung capacity, and progressive muscle relaxation which can take care of some of the same things. I like using a dark area where I can lay down, and sometimes I use an eye mask.
I also like exercise. I used a “return to running” program that my physical therapist gave me in recovering from a broken foot to integrate jogging into my annual (NOT yearly) routine. If you google return to running program on google images, you can find a number of routines that have ben developed to help people do this. Exercise can help with stress regulation in addition to bolstering the above mentioned methods of relaxation.
I love cooking. Physical activities that can be somewhat mild like cooking, washing dishes or something like driving can be soothing to me in a way that helps me repeat something and get into a method of completing that task, and for some tasks I’ve found that to be cathartic and fun.
Media. While I don’t always like watching TV, music can be fun and I love relaxing while browsing the web. There are other methods of relaxing I like to use, but this was just a short list of helpful things I enjoy that I’ve integrated into my regular week.
Are there things you’ve found great to help with relaxation that you’d like to share? Please do so ITT.
This works well, another thing I like to do is make sure I have no unresolved issues pressing. I have a hard time relaxing at home but have found if I head out to an outdoor coffee shop it is very relaxing.
Ever since I was 10 years old, my way of unwinding is to just get sheets of printer paper or a notebook, either sit down at a table or lie down in bed, and just write. Doesn’t matter if it’s nothing coherent. It could be a list of “Fifteen things I am happy about,” or, conversely, “Twenty things that piss me off.” It could be things I like or dislike about my job, my girlfriend, my parents, etc. It could be a what-if thing I’m thinking (“what if my team makes it to the AFC championship game this year?”)
Whatever it is, I just dawdle with pen and paper for half an hour or an hour and it usually leaves me a lot looser.
Yeah, this is all good. I also go for walks outdoors, or go to the gym.
I read fiction every day before work. Think about it at night before falling asleep.
Wordle.
I also masturbate and drink heavily.
I recently got into miniature building and painting. Think like Warhammer 40k. It’s been such a fun, relaxing and rewarding hobby! I set up a craft table, put on an audiobook or some cool instrumental background music and just start painting. It requires intense focus and attention to detail, and keeps your hands occupied…so it’s hard to get distracted. Time flies by when I’m “in the zone”.
I don’t even play Warhammer, but the painting has been huge for me lately. The lore aspects of the hobby are intriguing, but I haven’t gotten into that too deeply yet (it seems a bit overwhelming).
