7 things you should be doing to relax
By- Ishita Sharma
It is no hidden secret that we all strive for achievement. We always want the best for ourselves and succeed in each and every venture we ride on, in the voyage of life. While most of us engage in various competitions on the academic, professional and even personal front, maybe to show others and themselves being worthy of something, there are some who do not really care about any of it and just want to be true to themselves and move on with life at their own pace. The past one and a half year, that is the time since pandemic began, has indeed been a great journey of experience. We learned a lot during this time, by losing friends and close ones , by realising the importance of family and staying together strong, as a team no matter what happens.
We all experience several highs and lows in life, but learning from our mistakes, growing out of them and moving on with life by accepting the reality is the sole key to deal with any difficult situation in life. But how can we really keep our mind and body relaxed during such situations, and otherwise?
Initially it is crucial to adopt the practicing breathing exercises every morning before we begin any task for the day. But why is it so? Breathing exercises such as deep breathing helps in better regulation of blood to various parts of the body by providing oxygen to the brain which further helps us to relax. Thus, further helping one to focus better.
Secondly, it is crucial to try expressing our thoughts to the people we trust and are close to. Suppression of thoughts makes us anxious and distracts us from the various important tasks we do, because we constantly keep on thinking about it rather than sharing it with others. For those who are introvert and not really expressive, can practice journal writing. It helps one to at least get rid of the constant thinking about a particular situation we want to avoid. Writing about what we feel or what we go through, is a way to express to ourselves and even realize a lot of things at the same time.
Listening to soothing music, helps us to change our thoughts, the way we feel and sometimes even our actions. In a research, it was proved that music helps us to change our mood. We tend to relate with the lyrics and imagine ourselves in that particular scenario. Thus, listening to music can affect our emotions. Happy, upbeat music causes our brains to produce chemicals like dopamine and serotonin, which evokes feelings of joy, whereas calming music relaxes the mind and the body.
Yoga is a mind-body practice which includes a combination of physical poses, controlled breathing, and meditation. Some yoga poses that help in relaxation include forward stretch fold, Crescent warrior, Sphinx pose, chair pose, warrior two, tree pose and shavasana. Yoga poses are good exercise and can help loosen up the tense muscles in your body.
Including hobbies and activities of our interest in our daily routine can help us to relax our mind from following routine tasks every day. It will create certain changes in our daily routine which will further help to divert attention from the irrational thoughts. This can include dancing, taking our pet out for a walk, painting, reading, hanging out with friends for coffee or lunch, watching movies. Well, for me, this one works every time!
Exercising is like meditating in motion. It reduces the negative effects of stress in a person and also helps in improving the mood. Even going out for a walk or a quick run in the morning or evening will help in relaxing both the mind and the body. Doing this on a frequent basis will definitely help in accomplishing positive changes.
Lastly, if one doesn’t feel like doing any of it and just wants an escape, it is always useful to connect with nature for a while. This could include just sitting in the balcony for some time, or going out in the park and just hearing those feeble voices of the birds chirping, or kids playing. It will help as a distraction and further help to relax.
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