How do you relax?

What sort of things do you do to destress? I mean, besides role-playing, lol.

Do you like spas or massages? Or are you more simple and all you need is just some tea and a book? When the world is making harsh demands and you feel yourself overwhelmed, how do you release all that tension and anxiety and recharge yourself?

Let's see, in order of preference:

- Tea/Coffee and a book
- Showering
- Movies/Shows
- Cooking
- Video games
- Sleeping
- Icecream
- Masturbation xD

Yep, no roleplaying. It used to be something of a stress reliever for me but recently I'm finding it somewhat of a chore.

This is an interesting topic to me! I have an occasionally stressful job, as a military man, and I like to put my free time to good use. In order to relax, I try to do the following:

1.- Meditation: To me, it only took some weeks of regular practice to see the soothing effects of simple meditation focused on breathing. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the trendy concept of 'mindfulness', but setting aside the marketing and commercial use of that 'brand', meditation's been practised for thousands of years and for good reason. 5-15 minutes a day, just that, helps you focus, but there are plenty of other exercises, even when anxiety or uneasiness strikes. There are plenty of resources online to begin.

2.- ASMR: Now this is a slightly trickier one, because not everyone is affected by it. ASMR stands for "Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response". Basically the tingling sensation some people have when stimulated by certain sounds or visuals. For example, I'm triggered (sorry about using that word) by certain kinds of voices or whispering. Focusing on the audio while using headphones helps a lot. It's good to use when in bed, for example, or in any other moment of the day, videos are fine. Google it up and you'll see there are thousands of videos on YouTube.

3.- Massage: I don't care if it's a relaxing foot massage or a rough chiropractic session, it works wonders on me. Focusing on the pressure against my back or other parts of my body helps me forget about everything else, and after all, that's the point of relaxation, right? Living the moment while forgetting your worries, basically.

Masturbation has an honorable mention, but it's more about blowing off some steam. It's a more intense flow of emotions, in contrast to the 'emotional standby' the other methods offer. Sometimes we need something like that as well, don't we?

Normally to relax, I do any of these, in no particular order of preference:

1. Writing song lyrics and music. Mostly it's just writing about something or someone, and then I rearrange the words and phrases into lyrics.

2. I make myself a dessert coffee, like a latte or macchiato or something, and watch a movie.

3. Call up my best friend and gush about life.

4. Photoshop or creating thread designs, haha.

5. Bubble baths, with those fun Bath Bombs and some music. C:

Like Fruit, roleplaying isn't a stress reliever for me. It's definitely a hobby, one that I enjoy very much, but it requires a little too much work and effort for me to call it a stress reliever. XD

I relax by reading, napping and drinking.

Drinking is usually the best at relaxing me as I can not be upset and intoxicated at the same time. If I feel bad I don't feel like drinking and I'll stop drinking if my mood shifts.

Lol, hey, whatever works, you know?

I relax by watching things. That is my go-to feel better method. Either movies, tv shows, or youtube videos, losing myself in watching something, I can forget about everything else.

Bubble baths are a favorite of mine. I don't do a lot of prissy shit but bubble bath is the one luxury I'll allow. I'll usually heat up the water a lot and sit in there for a couple hours, either looking on my phone or reading a book. I don't do baths that don't have something in it anymore. The water around here is eggy, so, not only does sitting in plain water feel pointless but it also smells a little bit. Pumping that shit full of bubbles and bath bombs, it covers it up and fills the room and coats your skin with oils and whatnot.

I'm surprisingly easy going, so I rarely have a need to actively attempt to relax. If I ever am feeling stressed out, then I usually just lose myself in a video game. That being said, if something is bothering me to the point of needing to relax, then I'm usually not in a state where I'll be able to relax.

I lie down on the floor. Preferably a forest floor.

^ i really like that lying on the floor idea, thurr~

doing graphics used to be something that i'd do to relax, but after giving up photoshop, it's definitely more of a hassle now than anything.

instead, i usually throw on a favourite movie, or a game, bust up a session, and do my thing. doesn't take much for me to relax. so long as i don't have a ridiculous environment around me, i can usually get sucked into video games or watching something relatively easy. that and playing with my cats. that's always a good stress-reliever.

edit; apparently, posting in the general discussion is quite relaxing for me, as well. i've seemingly been posting more and more as time goes by o:

Best way to relax, is isolation from humanity.

Does anybody here like massages to relax?

I've always been enamored by the idea but in practice...not so much, particularly strangers touching me.

How do I relax. Well, the best way is to jump off a tall building. They can just shovel your body into nice garbage bags. See, your body is so relaxed your in garage bags and yes. They get the hose to wash your relaxed blood off the sidewalk. You should try the buildings in New York City.

[size=-2]Writing poetry or stories, reading listening to rock, metal and heavy metal music, drawing, driving backwards(not in the street, an empty parking lot, etc) and doing handstand push-ups.[/size]

Dark Desires said:

....driving backwards(not in the street, an empty parking lot, etc) and doing handstand push-ups.

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^--- that is a very interesting method of relaxation, predominately the driving backwards in an empty parking lot. OvO Honestly I'd be too afraid of accidentally smacking into something I couldn't see via any of the mirrors or back windshield. You must have a true talent my friend I'm dead serious!

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Rudolph Quin said:

Does anybody here like massages to relax? I've always been enamored by the idea but in practice...not so much, particularly strangers touching me.

Click to expand...

Personally this is something I have always wanted to try but have never been able to. I am certainly with you Rudolph on having strangers touch me, especially when in a position which places me in a vulnerable situation to them and basically at their mercy. I grow tense just thinking about it and the idea of being worked into relaxing and my guard dropping...I don't like it one bit. Maybe I've read too many books or seen too many movies where shit gets real in the massage lounges...or maybe I'm just too damn paranoid for my own good.

Either way if I WAS to try massage it would have to be from someone I know personally and feel comfortable dropping my guard to some extent or at least feeling confident enough in myself where they are concerned that if shit did get weird or shoot straight to hell I could fight them off.

Now I HAVE experienced a foot massage several years ago. My mother was actually the one who did it. Being a cosmetologist, at least during the time she originally went to school for it...I do not know if this still stand true today, but she was taught every area of the human body. Not just how to cut hair and color or style it or how to make pretty nails....she was taught how to do fully body waxing, yes this includes in the most sensitive areas, pedicures, massage of the entire body, everything. I never believed it before but it is true what they say....your entire body is linked to the nerves in your feet. Press on a particular pressure point on the foot and you can actually feel the sensation in the corresponding part of your body! It's extremely fascinating in my personal opinion. You work on a hard surface like a concrete floor all day and your feet are killing you it makes the rest of your body feel like shit for this very reason.

I had gone through several operations back to back and needless to say it wasn't pretty. The pain meds wore off too early and I could not take any more for another two hours and I was going through the roof with agony. My mom tried to soothe me but talking to keep me focused on something other than the pain wasn't cutting it. So she started massaging my feet in hopes of being able to calm the rest of my body through the pressure points. It actually worked to calm me down enough to the point where exhaustion set in and I passed out asleep for awhile.

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As far as relaxing goes in general.....I like to lounge around on the nice cushiony couch with a good book or movie cuddling with my fluff pile of a dog. I also love watching silly videos on youtube or let's plays. If I'm stressed and uptight or angry I'll either go for meditation or take it out on characters in video games and make them suffer horrible deaths. I also like to browse around the internet and look up funny pictures, see what kind of insanity I can find to read in fanfics and publically posted rps alike. And of course rp is another thing I love to do in order to relax. Much like reading it transports me to a realm other than the one I reside in, allowing me not only more control than what I have over situations in real life but also the ability to do and experience things not even remotely possible in reality.

I think I'm the same way, Feral. I would feel very vulnerable on a masseuse table, especially naked as people typically are. With a stranger putting their hands on me? Forget it! >,< I'm not sure if having someone I trusted would help or not, because although I wouldn't feel so vulnerable, I'd still feel incredibly awkward with them touching me and being naked around them while doing so.

Best way to relax is going to bed.

A hot up of tea and some models usually does wonders for me, outside of roleplaying. Of course there's the usual cliche of video games as well. But there's something utterly therapeutic about just me, plastic and super glue that sorta mellows me out. It's a task I can do at my own pace and have something to show for my time invested.

Sadly, I don't have nearly as much time for it as I want too. Still have a massive backlog of stuff to assemble.

Have tea time!