Relaxing sounds easy. Just sit down and… well, relax. But sometimes, you can’t do that. It feels as though your brain continues challenging itself and you can’t let it go. The reasons for that may differ. Luckily, there are a few tricks that always (okay, almost always) work.
How To Relax: 3 Proven Tricks
1. Aromatherapy
The good news here is that aromatherapy requires almost no effort on your part. You will use essential oils with calming scents (e.g., lavender) and they’ll do the job for you. The scents will tell your brain it’s time to let it all go.
Quick tips
- It’s convenient to disperse essential oils in your room with a diffuser.
- You can use aromatherapy in combination with delta-9 edibles as they, too, help to relax (both the brain and the body).
- Instead of diffusing oils, you can add them to a warm bath.
2. Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Here, the idea is that tensing and releasing our muscles reduces physical tension. In many cases, it’s due to it that we feel stressed (we’ll cover this in more detail later). So if we get rid of this tension in the body, we will feel calmer.
Quick tips:
- It’s best to turn to PMR when you have a quiet place to sit or lie down.
- Always start with your toes.
- Tense your muscles for just 5-10 seconds, then release.
- PMR audio recordings can be of help.
3. Physical Activity
If PMR sounds too challenging or just not your cup of tea, any physical activity will do, in fact. Movement is a fantastic way to relax. When we move, our body releases endorphins and these are super powerful stress relievers.
If you think you don’t have time for that, try with five-minute exercises daily. Some physical activity is better than none, that’s for sure. More than that, when you take it up, you are very likely to get hooked on it. After a while, you’ll notice your body is actually craving more.
Quick tips:
- When super pressed for time, go for a brisk walk outside.
- Join a yoga class and you’ll have physical activity plus mindfulness, all in one.
5 Reasons Why It May Be Difficult to Relax
Reason #1: Constant Connectivity
The sad truth is that we (well, most of us) live in a hyper-connected world. We’re always “on.” Smartphones, social media, and constant notifications just dominate. Because of this constant influx of information, our brain is always in a state of alertness. It “thinks” it can’t afford to wind down.
The only way out is to set boundaries for tech use. If you’ve already tried it and it didn’t work, try again. Try setting more realistic goals this time. Seriously, it’s the only thing that can REALLY help with this.
Reason #2: High Stress Levels
Chronic stress is jumping at us from everywhere:
- work
- parenting
- relationships
- personal issues, and so on and so forth.
When we are stressed, relaxation is, alas, impossible. Our mind is constantly racing, filled with worries and to-do lists. In fact, high stress levels keep the entire body (not just the mind) in this fight-or-flight mode.
So the first task is to always identify stressors. When you are done with this, you’ll be able to develop coping strategies. It’s usually a good idea to arrange a few sessions with a psychologist as they will recommend the strategies that will work best for you personally.
Reason #3: Perfectionism
Do you constantly strive for more and feel there’s always something to improve? If so, you may also feel guilty every time you try to have a rest. This is because perfectionism creates a relentless pursuit of unattainable standards. You can never be satisfied because there are always new heights to achieve.
Two things can help with it and they work best in combination. The first is self-compassion. It really helps to be kind to yourself. The second is to set realistic goals. Recognize that it’s okay if something goes wrong or not as well as you expected.
Reason #4: Lack of Time
This is one of the most popular reasons. Many of us don’t find time for relaxation and, after a while, we just forget how to enjoy ourselves. Work, family, other commitments — it seems so right to push the “treat yourself” time to the bottom of the list. Well, it’s not!
Just think of relaxation as something that MUST be scheduled into your day. It’s not an optional extra. If it turns out you have no time for it… well, perhaps you can put off some other tasks on the list?
Reason #5: Unresolved Emotions
Last but not least, if we ignore emotions for a while, they grow and won’t go away. Unresolved emotions such as guilt, anger, or sadness just bubble under the surface, making it hard to relax. The way out is to acknowledge and process them. It’s best to do it with a therapist’s help.
Finally Thoughts
Relaxation sounds easy but in practice, it isn’t always so. Alas. Life is sometimes tougher on us than we would want it to be. But there are quite a few things we can do about it, as you’ve just seen. We can, at least, stop viewing it as a special treat and try to turn it into our routine, instead.
