top five relaxation techniques

[constance]

1. Taking a long hot bath. I don't have a shower in my bathroom, just an old pink cast-iron bathtub, but even if I had a shower, I probably wouldn't use it, because I dearly love soaking. I lean back and zone out and the next thing I know it's half an hour later and the water's getting cold. It's not sleeping, and it's not conscious meditation; it's just this perfect free-float. It's a good way to start the day, I find, but I have to be careful not to zone out for too long.



2. Brushing the dog. He needs it, because he is a hairy monster who sheds bushels of fur by the week. He loves it. I love it. Win/win/win.



3. Driving. This one's pretty specific: it can't be on interstate, or in city traffic. But give me a long country road and lots of green and I could drive forever, whether the radio worked or not. (Working radio = good, though.)



4. Reading. I seriously can't go to sleep unless I've read myself somnolent. (The best choice for relaxing, for me, is to read something I've read before.)



5. Painting my toenails/giving myself a pedicure. Because I'm secretly sort of shallow.

:::

Now it's your turn. What are your favorite relaxation techniques?

Comments

[xanthophyllippa.livejournal.com]

1. Taking a long, warmish bath in someone else's bathtub with a good book. Or even a trashy book. Anything I can read in the tub, really. And not too hot a bath or I get woozy when I get out. And not in my own tub because my tub is gross - it's old and stained and just generally looks like something on which I don't want to put my bare delicates, even though I clean it. The tub, that is. And my delicates. But they get cleaned more often than the tub. Anyway, I like to take a bath that is not so hot it leaves me parboiled, in a tub that is aesthetically pleasing, while reading a book that requires more enjoyment than brainpower.

2. Swimming. Indoor only in this weather.

3. Kayaking. Not possible at all in this weather.

4. Skiing. Not possible much longer, I'm afraid, but the month in which I've had my new Fischer nordic skis has given me lots of joy, even if my hamstrings are now so tightly coiled I could use them as bedsprings.

5. Biking. Possible in this weather, but only if I felt like risking my life. Snow removal here is not what I, as a native Upstate New Yorker, find even remotely acceptable. A true discredit to the Upper Midwest.

6. Cuddling a cat. But it has been a long time since I have had a cat at hand, regretfully. I just can't deal with the thought of all my furniture covered in hair and dander, and I don't have time enough to keep the allergens to a minimum.

7. Cooking. For the last year I have made ridiculous quantities of soup, but I bought a pasta machine three years ago, and I make my own pizza dough. I like feeding people; it makes me feel needed.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Reading your list makes me realize how much of a slug I really am! I do get exercise, these days, but more because I need to than because I find it in any way rewarding. (I feel as though I ought to like gardening, but my ability to wither plants with a single glance has kind of spoiled the experience for me.) Even walking is more a chore than an enjoyment.

I do love to swim, though. I swam competitively as a kid/early teen, and eventually dropped out because I hated to compete on any level, but if I'm not competing, I can reach trance state incredibly quickly. I've been meaning to join a local gym with a pool. Maybe I'll get around to doing that soon.

I agree with the pet cuddling, too. My cat is not specially cuddly, actually -- she's a very active participant in any petting scenarios that are staged in our house -- but my dearest old cat Alex, he who died a couple of years ago, was the best cuddler on earth, and I miss that terribly.

I like to cook, and like to feed people, but I find it a little stressful, because it doesn't come naturally to me.

Thanks for playing! I love to see other people's responses to these lists.

[xanthophyllippa.livejournal.com]

Reading your list makes me realize how much of a slug I really am! I do get exercise, these days, but more because I need to than because I find it in any way rewarding.

I don't know that I always find it rewarding, or even enjoyable sometimes - it's just that I have this weird metabolism and biochemistry that require a ridiculous amount of activity in order for me to maintain both a comfortable weight and an even keel. I get really cagey and irritable if I don't move around enough, so I often find myself taking long, aimless walks just so I have something to do outside. Being around me when I'm under-exercised is kind of like watching a retired greyhound just sit there and quiver until it's let out to run around again.