Most of us do a lot during the day. Most of us try to relax at night.
Most of us do a lot during the year. Most of us try to relax on a vacation.
A night, a weekend, and a vacation seem like small amounts of time to balance out the progress and stress we call life. This is probably why most of us long for more of all of these. Well, why not create more of these during our day, every day, every week. Have you ever tried a 1 minute vacation? A 5 minute break? A 20 minute nap.
Many studies confirm that regular sleep at night is good for our mood, our bodily functions, and our longevity. And regular naps show to be just as helpful. But other than sleep, we can relax in other ways like exercise, meditation, visualization, singing, etc. Many people create just as much structure around these things by joining yoga and other classes dedicated to a constructive hobby. And that’s fantastic.
Why I’d suggest is adding even more variety to the day. Take a 10 minute walk, rest and close your eyes for 2 minutes, focus on nothing but your breath for 30 seconds. These miniature breaks can make even more bearable all that life requires from us. And the more stress you feel the more these minuscule vacations are needed.
Here’s a couple other ideas to break up the day and put a little relief back into the body:
- Take a very deep breathe completely filling the lungs, exhale completely pushing out all the air. Do this for three breaths. Repeat 3 times each day for 2 weeks.
- Stop what your doing, close your eyes, and picture your most relaxing memory, spending a full minute engaging all your senses. Feel, see, hear, taste, and touch a scene from your memory. Maybe it’s from a mountain, a beach, or a time with your family or friends.
- Shake your body. Stand shoulder width apart and simply bounce and shake until you feel every muscle and joint tingle with stimulation. Stop and enjoy this feeling for 30 seconds
- Take a 20-40 minute nap. No need to actually fall asleep. Just rest and set an alarm to end the nap. Naps that go beyond an hour tend to utilize deeper brain activity that should be reserved just for our night time sleep.
Enjoy!!