In this day and age everyone harps on about maintaining a work/life balance but even when you take work out of the equation, there are still a million things you need to do before even considering the addition of some down-time. Somewhere along the line, people forgot that life in itself is not all sunshine and cocktails by the pool!
Imagine this; you walk out of your full time job after a shift of being a productive member of society. Now you just have a few things to do before you can put your feet up such as shopping, cleaning, walking the dog, keeping yourself fed, attending soccer practice, study, keeping in touch with friends and family, going to the gym, juggling children, paying bills and attempting to maintain a basic level of hygiene. It’s no big deal right? Wrong!
Anxiety is a rising problem in today’s society and a contributing factor is the lack of down-time scheduled in to our everyday life as it is viewed as unproductive or lazy. Truth is, if you don’t find time to relax, you are going to break that pretty little brain of yours and be far more unproductive in the long run.
To help avoid this, here are 10 tips for relaxing while on the run which take five minutes or less:
- Eat a square of chocolate. Dark chocolate in particular regulates levels of the stress hormone cortisol and stabilises metabolism.
- Meditate – five minutes of peace is all it takes. Find a comfortable spot in a quiet place, concentrate on your breath, and feel those anxieties start to disappear.
- Lay your head down for a few minutes and imagine the pillow is a sponge sucking up all your worries.
- Remember to breathe – Slow, deep breaths can help lower blood pressure and heart rate.
- Try Progressive Relaxation. This involves tensing then releasing the muscles in one body part at a time to achieve a state of calm.
- Use Creative Visualization. Think of something that makes you feel happy (Like an encounter with your favourite sexy celebrity). It’s an instant mood boost on hectic days when we’re feeling tense.
- Give yourself a hand massage. This can be especially helpful if you spend a lot of time on a keyboard as the hands are prone to holding a lot of tension..
- Try acupressure. Use the thumb and forefinger to massage the soft area between the thumb and index finger of the other hand.
- Drip cold water on your wrists and earlobes. There are major arteries right underneath the skin, so cooling these areas can help calm the whole body.
- Sniff citrus. The smell of citrus can help us relax by increasing levels of the stress-related hormone norepinephrine.
The Modern Manic 