It’s an understatement to say that the past year has been difficult, and the difficulties show no sign of settling down any time soon. Dealing with stress and finding relaxation is not a luxury, but is an important and critical part of our self-care routine.
But not all relaxation time is created equal. To get the most out of our relaxation time and be able to best deal most effectively with our stress, we need to be aware of what we turn to in our relaxation time.
For most of us, I think we can fall into the “I need a break so I’ll go watch a bit of TV/YouTube/Netflix” thinking. And sometimes disconnecting from what’s going on around us can provide a bit of relaxation and allow us to come back to face the situation with some clarity. But face it, it’s easy to allow ourselves to get pulled in and find ourselves in the middle of a 3 hour movie marathon. So rather than working through the stress and then feeling refreshed, we end up just temporarily numbing those feelings and emotions we’d rather just avoid.
We can numb with all kinds of things – food, wine, shopping, marathon sports events, mindless social medial scrolling, and the list continues. These things may feel good at the time and provide a distraction from the stress that we’re running from, but they just don’t solve the problem. And in most cases, we end up feeling even more stressed.
We can’t effectively deal with stress by numbing or avoiding it, but only by making an intentional decision to release it. Think of what feels really relaxing to you. What do you enjoy that allows you to feel refreshed afterwards? Things I think of are really connecting with a friend (even over phone or Zoom), a walk in the woods (or even around the neighborhood), enjoying a hobby, or meditation/prayer. The list is really endless.
It helps to plan our relaxation time wisely in order to get from it what we need. Take a few minutes to create a list of what works for you. Then the next time you’re feeling stressed, rather than falling into old habits of numbing and distracting, consider what would be the best way for you to really relax.
If you’re looking for some tools to deal with stress (and face it, who doesn’t need more tools!) invite you to join my FREE 5 day workshop, Stress Less, Enjoy More. You’ll get tools to help you create peaceful relaxation in your day. You’ll find more joy, less stress, and even experience better sleep. I hope you’ll give it a try!
And be sure to check out my YouTube channel for meditations and visualizations that will help you to relax.
