There are so many different ways to relax. I have my favorites, as I am sure you do..
To me, relaxing means clearing your mind of all of life’s stressors and finding peace. Clearing one’s mind is not always an easy task. There are so many things to think about; work, children, money, chores, relationships, to-do lists.
Meditation is a wonderful means of finding peace and relaxation. I meditate in the mornings, when the house is quiet and I have a few peaceful moments alone. I sit in my room and empty my thoughts and breathe. That five minutes creates a peace that many days will carry me through many stressful moments. I have found that meditation, if done daily, has a cumulative effect over time, causing me to be less reactive to my environment and more attuned to my own thoughts and feelings.
Evening is not a time when meditation can be accomplished, at least not in my home. In the evenings, I try to find time to use my watercolors to create postcards to send to the people I love. When immersed in my art, I find there is no room for any other thoughts or worries.
Reading is another road to relaxation. Fiction or nonfiction, I can find myself lost in either. I find it difficult to concentrate to learn in the evenings, so I focus on reading for entertainment. A good, well written mystery pulls me into the story, resulting in my reality fading away for the time the pages are turning.
Taking a long quiet walk is relaxing and peaceful. My favorite time to walk is as the sun begins to set, when the shadows are long and the colors of sunset light up the sky. The rhythm of step, step, step, and immersing myself in nature surrounding me relaxes me to my soul.
And finally, my favorite road to relaxation – via the bathtub. A very full tub of warm water and bubbles with some instrumental music playing quietly and a few candles burning brings me to a state of muscle and mind relaxation. Add a cup of sleepy time tea and a book as previously mentioned and I have stepped into relaxation perfection.
Like many things in life, relaxation is different for everyone, but everyone needs to make time to relax.
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