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

Edited to remove nonstop italics

[laurelwood.livejournal.com]

I know lots of people who have a shower and no bathtub, but you're the first person I've heard of in quite a while who's got a vice versa situation going on! I've tried to get into the tub scene, but for some reason, I can't find it relaxing. Well, unless it's a hot tub and I can loll more or less upright. Maybe it's the whole reclining thing I don't care for.

As for rereading something to get in the mood to sleep, I so agree! It's such a comforting, foolproof, lull-yourself-to-sleep maneuver. And I agree with your driving requirements, too. For me, the requirement is rolling hills. It can be an 8-lane highway and the hills can be brown, but if they're that nice, ice cream scoop shape with the occasional gnarled oak, I'm in heaven.

I'd put the driving and the reading on my list, but that'd be copycatting. So here are five others:

1. Menial labor that can be accomplished while sitting. Cutting out geometric shapes for a kindergarten art project, sorting papers for next-door Jan, mounting 5th grade artwork on black construction paper, etc. Basically anything that's repetitive and doesn't require much creativity- so soothing!

2. Riding in a bus or train. I don't do much of this anymore, unfortunately, and when I do it's never by myself, but oh, how I love settling into my seat, zoning out, and idly watching the scenery/fellow passengers.

3. Listening to either Palestrina's masses or Alan Rickman reading "Return of the Native". I have to be careful not to do either of these while driving, because they send me into a trance of relaxation.

4. Making ambitious to-do lists. How sad that this has the opposite effect that it should.

5. Lying under a heavy pile of children and dog. I don't know why being crushed is so relaxing, but it is.

Re: Edited to remove nonstop italics

[xanthophyllippa.livejournal.com]

Mmm, Palestrina!

(And mmm, Alan Rickman! Have you heard him reading "My Mistress' Eyes?")

Re: Edited to remove nonstop italics

[tofty.livejournal.com]

I do have a shower, actually -- my second bathroom has one -- so if I were really interested in showering, I could manage it. But I got used to the baths years ago, and refuse to give them up if I don't have to!

Maybe the bath issue is something to do with your height? I'm medium-tallish, so I never am in danger of submersion unless I want to be submerged, but I have a friend who's much smaller, and she says she feels really uncomfortable in baths because she feels as though she has to concentrate on not going under.

I am so behind 1, 2 (ferries across the Mississippi River are also sublime, as I learned while in NO), 4, and 5 (well, pets, since there mostly aren't children conveniently to hand when I'm ready to wind down) that I feel I should look up the things you mention in #3 just on principle. :D

Re: Edited to remove nonstop italics

[tofty.livejournal.com]

I do have one objection to traveling on public transportation, though, that I just remembered: for some reason, I got hit on while riding around in NO on a semi-frequent basis, and it completely weirded me out. As long as no one's trying to pick me up, though, I am A-OK.