Feeling tired? Feeling like you can’t catch a break? You finally got home from work, finally finished that school project you worked so hard on. Maybe you just have a couple of hours to spare before you have to return to work or go out or something. You tried just chill and relax, watch a movie or play some video games, but for some reason you still don’t feel at peace. The stress is catching up with you. Your thoughts are swirling around in your head. Can’t stop thinking about your problems.
The inability to correctly deal with stress is a lot of the times the reason behind our headache. It’s learning to deal with stressful situation and calming ourselves down that really takes us to the next level.
So, on that note, here’s 5 Ways to truly Escape Reality for a minute.
1. MEDITATION
I feel like at this point in time, it should’t come as a surprise that meditation is on this list. This ancient practice has proven effective over and over for numerous people. It’s all about living the moment, concentrating on your surroundings at a level where you feel the energy of everyone and everything around you. Just being more aware of everything that exists in a way.
How does it work?
To quote Huffpost:
“Basically, meditation enables us to move from higher frequency waves to lower frequency, which activates different centers in the brain.
Slower wavelengths = more time between thoughts = more opportunity to skillfully choose which thoughts you invest in and what actions you take.”
With the help of some guided breathing exercises, it really helps you calm down, breath for a minute and think more clearly.
A Little HELP
In the beginning, I suggest you try meditating with the help of either a coach. This coach can take many form, for example: a person, an app, a YouTube video, etc.
Personally, I prefer to use apps like “Calm” or “Just Rain” or “Forest” (*).
“Calm” is honestly very helpful. It has amazing guided exercises for meditation. There’s also different stories to help you go to sleep faster and have a nicer and more peaceful sleep.
Obviously there’s some YouTube videos as well that you can check out. Just type in something like “how to meditate” or “meditation videos” and you should find what you’re looking for.
2. Get a Massage
Massage is like literally the”art” of relaxing our body. From a physical standpoint of course. The goal of massage therapy session is to eliminate the tension in muscles, increase flexibility and providing relaxation to the affected muscles as well as the body as a whole. The rubbing of our “body parts” (as weird as that sounds) improves the blood circulation which enhances the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to muscle cells and helps remove waste products. From a certain point of view, you could say it’s like doing physical activity… in a way… from a certain perspective… not really though….
It stimulates production and regulation of neurohormones (which basically influence our behavior) and, therefore, ensure our well-being and makes us more positive in a certain way. An article from Headspace suggests “A therapist’s touch tends to elevate our body’s level of dopamine, which affects inspiration, joy and enthusiasm.” and also that “The gentle pressure of massage stimulates the body’s circulation and helps us to relax and rest.”
3. Sleep
More, but not too much. A nap, maybe?
It’s important to sleep, but sometimes work or school or certain projects don’t really allow you to have the best sleep schedule.
Lots of people underestimate NAPPING. A 10, 15, 30 min nap a day can charge you up with enough energy to finish your quotidian tasks. This “short dose of sleep” can strengthen the body’s ability to withstand stress and your immune system in general if you are sleep deprived. There’s actually a study that suggests that people are actually meant to sleep twice a day but less time – so, like, instead of an 8 hour sleep, we’re supposed to for 4 hours twice a day.
AND research suggests that it does boost one’s mood and confidence (which can get you ready for the next work sesh.
BUT be careful not to sleep too much.
We tend to sleep a short amount time during the first 5 days of a week and then try to “catch up” during the weekends by sleeping more than 9-10 hours. Science actually shows that long sleeps can actually make you more tired and less productive during the day. It can also lead to some pretty serious illnesses, like diabetes and, in due course, lead to some serious consequences.
4. NATURE
Working everyday means, for a lot of people, sitting in some small office 8-9 hours a day, barely getting any fresh air, staring at a computer screen all day, etc. It’s why it’s important to get out.
What does that mean?
Sometimes it’s enough to just opt for lunch on a balcony or in a park rather than inside the office space. Consider taking a 20-30 minute walk everyday in the park near you. On the weekends try doing some more intense physical activity. You can go hiking or biking (**). If you got the opportunity, try going camping – it’ll really help clear your mind.
I, for example, go for a bike ride (if the weather is right) each Sunday for about 5-6 hours in the mountains near my city. It’s a great way see new places and the exercise is great.
Now, it’s not just about the exercise. Getting fresh air is very important. Fresh air helps with the digestion of food, improves blood pressure and heart rate.
The least you can do is open your window when you get home and/or in the morning when you wake up.
5. Therapy. Speak out loud
Sometimes stress doesn’t just come from a lack of fresh air or tense muscles, it comes from way deeper problems than that. Each and every one of us has a certain amount baggage. Thoughts that still haunt us since we were children, teens. Stuff that’s just hard to let go of. Stuff that causes people to be stressed all the time, fall head first in depression, get addicted to drugs and alcohol, and so on.
If you find yourself in such a position, it’s important to take steps towards a healthier lifestyle and one of these steps may as well be therapy. Honestly I believe that everyone would benefit from a therapy.
When you go to these sessions, the therapist will identify the thoughts, feeling and behaviors that shape your lifestyle so to day. They’ll learn who you are by asking you questions, see what works and eventually help you make some positive changes. You’ll even get some insights on how your mind works and eventually learn what you need to do to successfully face these fears of yours and one day, hopefully, living stress-free.
MEDITATION. MASSAGE. SLEEP. NATURE. THERAPY.
This sort of sums it all up. If you found this article useful or entertaining in any way, we will appreciate your like, comment or follow. Thank you for reading
*These are not sponsors. This is just my opinion and my experience.
**Side Note: App Bikemap shows you different biking routes near you – whether it’s inside the city or on the off-road.
August 