What are your relaxation/meditation/calming routines & habits?

Bandwagon

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Kolohe
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This was inspired by a handful of recent conversations and I'm putting it in the grown up thread in the hopes that every response isn't "killing hookers" or something like that.

What activity/activities or [whatever] is your go-to when you want to relax, with intent? I'm trying to differentiate between stuff that you do every day after work just to relax and have a bit of down time, from the stuff that you'll do intentionally and specifically for the purpose of R&R. Be as brief or descriptive as you want.

(This post is addressed at literally everyone except Foler Foler )
 
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Bandwagon

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Kolohe
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Also,
  • Garage Time - Whether it's anger, stress or "just amped up" about anything my OCD is aiming me towards, my favorite thing to do is put Fury or UFC on in the garage and work on projects. Sanding, mainly. I hated weekends growing up because my Dad -always- had some big project (new drain field, new roof on the garage, etc) going on and I always had to help him all weekend. Sanding and pulling weeds are the main things that I fucking hated. I still hate pulling weeds, but sanding is one of the most relaxing things for me nowadays.
  • Playing Frisbee/Styrofoam airplanes/anything that flies in the backyard with my daughter - I love hanging out with my girl and if she's awake and I'm not at work, I'm with her. Still, most of it isn't really "relaxing" time except for playing with stuff like this in the backyard. In the spring/fall/summer, playing frisbee and baseball with her in the backyard is my daily relaxation time after work and I look forward to it all day.
  • Waves - I've lived on 3 different islands and the rhythm of the ocean is something that I think is deeply ingrained in every human. Swimming, surfing, body surfing, spear fishing, kayaking, fishing, etc etc. There's just something about being tossed around by the waves that's very relaxing. I spent almost every day at the beach for years and most of the time I was just body surfing close to shore because I didn't have to have anything else with me to do that.
 
Lambourne

Lambourne

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I take walks. When I go for a walk, I don't take any electronics along. Just walk and let the mind wander. Consider how much time per day you have where you are not either looking at a screen or listening to something. That used to be hours per day for most of human history, and for many people it's now zero. I think of it as mental defragging.
 
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Burren

Burren

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Routine activities would be:
- Glass or two of whisky and watching old Top Gear (original UK guys; Clarkson, Hammond, and May)
- Offline single player game of some kind. Currently its Total War, Warhammer 2
- TV or movie with the wife and dogs

Serious disconnecting:
- Long solo drive in one of my loud cars, no radio. In fact, I'm doing that tomorrow, mid-day with a friend who's taking his car, since we haven't been able to for a while.

I used to paint, play sports, and exercise more. I miss all of those things dearly, but haven't been able to muster up the motivation to get back into them all. For health reasons, at least I'm exercising more.
 
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I just don't worry about stupid shit. Conditioned myself to sleep well. And I play video games in place of watching TV or whatever.
 
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Captain Suave

Captain Suave

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Bandwagon said:
sanding is one of the most relaxing things for me nowadays
Click to expand...

You're a psychopath. Fuck sanding.

If I get myself worked in a knot I go for a serious HIIT workout, try to be nice enough to my wife to get laid, and go to sleep early. Looking after your body does wonders for your outlook, and I think people are much simpler machines than we flatter ourselves to be. Before I fucked up my knees I trained jiu jitsu and I could practice consensual murder regularly, which went a long way.
 
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Bandwagon

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Kolohe
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Captain Suave said:
Looking after your body does wonders for your outlook, and I think people are much simpler machines than we flatter ourselves to be.
Click to expand...
Well said. I really don't have any issues with anxiety, but physical work always bottoms it out for me.

And I did start boxing in my early 20s as an outlet for some anger/aggression issues. Absolutely 100% effective for me. I've been in.....two fights since then and I didn't start or escalate either one of them. If I thought it'd help the mental side more nowadays, I'd probably join up a club again.

That's more of a "I just need to let it go" and idealism thing, though.
 
Furry

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Upping my BAC numbers along with right hand grip strength. I haven't been bothered by anything for 20 years.
 
Tmac

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I've started just sitting on my bed with the lights on for like 30 minutes, thinking about my day, and journaling a sentence, a paragraph, or whatever I need.

It's helped me sleep a lot better.
 
lurkingdirk

lurkingdirk

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Woodworking is certainly something that calms me. I always have several projects going, and the shaping and building is very soothing.

In the summer I like cutting the grass, especially in the orchard. Zen time, beautiful things to see, wonderful smells.

Spending time with my family is usually relaxing, but not always. When I'm 1 on 1 with one of my kids or with my wife it always improves my mood.
 
Gamma Rays

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I've worked out a short handy thing that's a relaxation thing, it's a slow count while doing slow breaths out. The out breaths are me pushing out the crap that's got me worked up / stressed / whatever. The aim of it is to get all that out of me, then to just go blank/neutral in the head, zero thoughts about whatever shit. I then return to normal activities, but for a decent bit of time, I maintain that 'blank/neutral brain' feeling.

Due to it being short, only taking a few minutes. I can do it in various places, I go into the toilets at work, or do it while driving ( a modified partial version / it works ), sitting away from people I pretend to check messages on my phone, but in truth doing the calming thing.
 
Denamian

Denamian

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For me it's having at least a full day where I have absolutely no obligations and can just do whatever the hell I want, whenever I want. Being the anti social bastard that I am, this also means no in person interaction with anyone.
 
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Cukernaut

Cukernaut

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Via Negativa (or addition by subtraction)
-I read a lot of classic stoic literature
-I follow orthodox christian fasting schedule now
-I blocked all browsers and social media on my phone and had my wife password it
-Been doing more bible study and fellowship

SLEEPING
-Bought a badass oversized spa quality robe
-Got Bose Sleepbuds for going to sleep
-Nose strips
-Melatonin

WORK
-No email on phone
-Dont set an alarm for work, go to sleep at 8-9PM
-Feng Shue my office, scent diffuser and lights etc and a futon in my office at work
-Invested in some really nice Bose headphones to enjoy during work, and I listen to music without words predominately or opera.
 
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