7 Ways To Relax When You Don’t Have Much Time
Relaxation is essential for peace of mind and a healthy body and soul. Yet, with so much going on in our lives, finding the time to truly relax becomes more and more difficult (even though being so busy means we need that relaxation time more than ever). So what can be done? Well, there are a number of ways that you can relax in just a few minutes. That means you can relieve stress during your lunch break, on a short walk around the block, or even on the commute home. Here are some examples of the kinds of things you can do.
Eat Chocolate
We’re not advocating that you go and eat an entire family-sized bar of sugary chocolate when you’re feeling stressed (even if the idea does appeal), but dark chocolate is known to regulate your metabolism and reduce the amount of cortisol (the stress hormone) being produced by your body. Therefore, having just one square of good quality dark chocolate before a meeting or when you’ve been stuck in traffic, for example, can calm you down considerably.
Breathe Slowly
When you’re stressed, your breathing becomes short and shallow, which doesn’t allow enough oxygen into your body and, more importantly, into your brain. This can make you feel lightheaded, give you a tension headache, and generally make everything feel a lot worse than it really is.
Practice slow, deep breathing when you’re feeling stressed, and your blood pressure and heart rate will return to normal quickly. You’ll be able to calm yourself down, and your brain will get back to work coming up with a solution to the problem at hand.
Put Cold Water On Your Wrists
When you’re feeling overly stressed out and need to relax, take yourself to the nearest bathroom and drip some cold water onto your wrists. You can even dab some behind your earlobes too. Beneath the skin in exactly these spots are some important major arteries – if you can cool them down, they’ll do their job more efficiently, making sure that oxygenated blood gets where it needs to go. You’ll feel a lot better for it, and it only takes a couple of minutes.
Play A Game
Playing a game will take your mind off your problem and the reason for your stress and help you focus elsewhere. You can pull out a deck of personalised printed playing cards, play a game on your smartphone, or go online with your phone or tablet to find games there. You might prefer puzzles, or perhaps you want to play sports. Whatever you do, you’ll find that when you’ve finished your game, you can return to what you were doing with a re-energised mind and a fresh approach.
Look Out Of The Window
If you need to take some time out but you can’t really go outside because you have a meeting to go to or a work schedule to keep to, go to the window and look out of it. Even if you have to do it through a pane of glass, looking at nature is exceptionally relaxing.
Write In Your Journal
Journalling is a wonderful way to relax if you just have a few minutes each day or evening. Begin by writing out a cherished childhood memory, then work your way up from there. By the time you’re through and up to date, you can simply jot down everything you want to remember or that impressed you in your daily life. Go to your diary the next time you need a pick-me-up and revisit these experiences. Remembering the positive times can immediately recreate those pleasant emotions and relieve your tension, helping you to feel much more relaxed.
Enjoy Your Meals
When it comes to having lunch at work, make it one of your methods to unwind and relax. You should not check your messages or carry out any errands. Instead, focus on your meal. No matter how busy you are, you should take a genuine pause and eat slowly. Enjoy every mouthful. This allows you to refill, feed, and rest your mind and body before returning to work.
Stepping away from the computer during meals provides your brain with a mental holiday from the work environment, so plan your next lunch break in a park or a conference room with views of the outdoors.
Since you have to eat anyway, if you’re short of time, making sure you eat properly will save you trying to squeeze in anything else during your day if you really can’t.
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