Pour a glass of nice wine, climb into the hot tub and gaze at the stars until I turn into a giant prune.
Get lost in a good book.
Take a long walk in the woods.
Spend time training my dog.
Entertain friends or call a close friend for a fun chat.
Play with oil paints.
These all work well.
You and I are so alike!
I pour a glass of the hot tub and gaze at the oil paints until I turn into my dog.
I get lost in the woods.
I spend time training my close friend.
Catan and nonograms mostly. There are other games that i play, but those are my go-to games for chilling out.
Always interesting to get up in the morning and see what I posted the night before!
What Do You Do to Relax?
Work.
I retired from medicine (not very relaxing) a few years ago, and now design websites and manage social media accounts for a number of small business clients. This involves a lot of graphic design, video editing/compositing, and photo-manipulation. It allows me to express my artistic side, which medicine never did.
I give my clients much more of my time than they pay for because I love this work, and I’m a perfectionist. It relaxes me. It doesn’t feel like a job at all.
Cooking also relaxes me.
Cooking, genealogy, extreme sneezing.
How is Catan on mobile?? I have always been curious. I love the board game, but never knew about the mobile version.
I play against bots, but there used to be (maybe still is) a way to play with other people.
I like woodworking. I’m far from being a pro like the guys that make You Tube videos but it is relaxing to me. Plus it gives me an excuse to buy a new power tool I will only use a few times a year. The only downfall is my wife complaining about the sawdust that accumulates on her car.
She needs to shut the fuck up and let you relax. I’m kidding of course.
I hear ya. Kinda like little Easter Eggs to yourself. Any post of mine time-stamped after, say 8pm local should not be taken too seriously.
I really miss my shop. When we decided to go to apartment living, I sold nearly all of my power tools, both free-standing and handheld. I did keep some of my hand tools (planes and some others), but really have no use for them. They’re in a box in my daughter’s garage.
Nowadays I fuss on the computer and occasionally glance at my Strat sitting in its stand with a fine coat of dust on it. My motivation has gone the way of the callouses on my fingertips. I do still cook, just not as much as I used to.
When things have hit rock bottom, I take down one of Stephen King’s early novels and plow through. Instant catharsis. There’s nothing worse than getting trapped in a school bus full of vampire children.
Definitely guitar. I love beer and weed, but nothing relaxes me and sets me straight like playing the guitar. Music is magical.
Me too. I’ll be retiring in a few months and really look forward to spending a lot of time noodling on my guitars I also love micro-brews
I love also going to a cafe or bar and killing a few hours with some coffee or a few glasses of dry red wine and a good book.
Man. If you are in Central Ohio, DM me. I have a few real kicked back “open mikes” that are worth sitting in on.
Sounds like a good time. Alas I’m up in Montreal, soon to be in Ottawa.
Take a walk in the woods.
Watch an old movie.
Read
Crossword puzzles
Play Wordle, Quordle & Octordle.
On a warm summer’s day: Adirondak chair with foot stool, a Diet Coke, a bag of chips, and either a book/Kindle, magazines or a crossword puzzle. 
Octordle!?
runs off…
Practice piano. When I’m feeling stressed out, practicing in a very particular and focused way is quite meditative. On these occasions I don’t play freely for fun, and I don’t play for Art, whatever that is – instead I focus on a little bit of business, a challenging 8-note passage in the left hand or whatever, and play it over and over (and over) trying to achieve perfection of tone and perfect dynamic control. This can turn into a 20-minute rabbit hole that absolutely resets my mind, completely aside from learning to play better.