What do you do to Relax?

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???What kinds of things do you do to help yourself relax???

I was thinking about this yesterday when I came home from work.
As usual, after a day of dealing with people, I was feeling all the symptoms of anxiety:
*muscle aches
*short breathing
*racing thoughts
*tense and constricted feeling throughout the chest
*shot nerves - jumpy and irritable

I had also just picked up my son from preschool, and as we walked up to the front door, he stopped and insisted that we sit outside for a while so he could play with some sticks and leaves that caught his attention. So I sat there on the front step. He played. I stared at the oak trees and the fallen leaves and the plants in the yard. I looked up into the sky and watched jets pass by. I free-associated with clouds. I watched a squirrel nibble on acorns. I traced out imaginary geometrical patterns in my garden. And I felt myself very slowly uncoiling, deflating, exhaling, relaxing..........

It was amazing the kind of change that came over me in the course of about 15 minutes. The muscle aches stopped. The tense feeling in my chest went away. My breathing slowed. I didn't feel quite as gratingly on-edge as I had before. I was able to sit and enjoy Nature and myself and my son and the present moment.

And it hit me just how infrequently I do this. Most days, I crash from one place to the next, from one job to the next, never taking time to REALLY relax. That is, taking the time to let the ever-present physical symptoms of anxiety fade before engaging in another task or social situation. I somehow just usually let this stuff build up to the point where, by the end of the day, I am utterly spent, frustrated, exhausted, and mean.

I hope that I can stay more aware of this.
I NEED to stay more aware of this.

My relaxation is, succinctly put, sitting in Nature.

So, how do you relax?

Maths is for the me the best to relax: I grape am old maths-book from university pick up something randomly and try to solve it.

This helps especially when I am in high emotional stress.

I workout as much as my body will let me, listen to music, maybe play some video games.. Actually a lot of times I find myself coming onto the comp and just learning new things. A long shower is nice too.

I tend to go online (which i'm used to doing, anyways), draw pictures, visit my dog...stuff like that...I also like to walk my dog to help my mind feel relaxed and at ease, too, but...haven't been able to do that since I first got my cold...x_x;;

Sometimes, when I feel REALLY stressed (which used to happon quite often...it's passing, though...Ithink), i'll also eat a candy bar...a WHOLE candy bar, sometimes, if it's desprite (but that's VERY rare, luckly). But, usually...the above help's calm me enouth. Sometimes video games are known to relax me, too...depend's on my mood (i'm not a hug HUGE gamer, though...yes, I know it seem's hard to beleve. well...again...it depend's on my mood. when I REALLY feel like playing a game...I can and WILL get amazingly stressed out if i'm un-able to at times. but, usualy, i just play games for fun...pretty much like a normal, NT person. pretty much...I love video games, though. they really are fun in fact...i sorta feel like playing one now that i've typed this....).

Anything I do can be used to calm me...amazingly, I didn't mension looking at cute things yet. I think that CAN calm me, too...but then again, sometimes, I think cute may be RESPONCABLE for a lot of the stress and turn to other things. Yeah, I know...lame.....

~cmastler

Runescape and music.
Other than that, going for a nice walk, or cuddling with a significant other would do the trick as well
Not that I have very much experience in that department obviously, just a little. I know it would work if they mean something to you.

What also works with me is music, but just one particular composer: Johann Sebastian Bach. His music forces my brain again into some order and back to regular functioning.

Hope you will have more of those peaceful moments, Acacia. One thing that I find incredibly relaxing is to play the piano. Sad and slow songs. Or just listening to such music while lying down comfortably...

I can't relax, although reading emails and message boards does a good job.

Long walks and hot baths are my relaxation techniques.

smoke weed

I relax in nature too, especially by the seaside. Other ways I relax is by reading or listening to music.

~ Roller blading helps me a lot--especially if I'm at a skate park since it forces me to focus on what I'm doing and not my problem.
~ Music
~ Something intellectually stimulating
~ Drinking hot green tea

I should probabaly be a little more honest than in my earlier post, I like to shower, i do like reading posts here, but I also like anywhere where the background noise is soothing and the air is right, so a tropical beach where I am the only one there would do it nicelyeven just laying down on the couch with some nice music...