RELAX
5 GOOD REASONS WHY YOU MUST RELAX :
1. You will feel better for it
2. You will operate better for it
3. You will think clearer for it
4. Your body needs the rest
5. You’ll can build up the strength to flatten the competition !
GOOD WAYS TO RELAX:
- Go for a good walk
- Listen to some relaxing music
- Spend time with your friends and/or family (Business talk barred!)
- Go for a massage
- Have a relaxing holiday
Go for a good walk:
I must confess that my very favourite way of relaxing is by going for a long, peaceful walk. in some kind of nature reserve or by the sea-shore. The sheer majestic magnificence of nature in the raw, if you allow yourself to be enveloped in it, can bring such inner peace that you can’t help but melt into it, and feel your tensions lifting.
I know that not everyone has ready access to such serene surroundings, but those that do should take the fullest advantage of it in their program of relaxation.
Even so, just the mechanics of going for a walk wherever, can distract your mind from the problems of the day, and that in itself will give your brain a much needed rest.
Listen to some relaxing music:
“Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.” William Congreve - Yes music can be very therapeutic when you’re feeling stressed. Try to find music with ‘charms’ though, soothing and calming.
My very favourite is “The Lark Ascending” by Vaughan Williams. I find the sounds of the music to be sublime. I can almost visualise myself as that lark hovering high on the thermal currents, soaring above the vast green canvas of countryside and hilltops. Amazing feeling ! So freeing !
Find something that works for you. If you don’t have any classical favourites yet, then get a compilation album of relaxing classics as a start. As you listen, you may be particularly ‘taken’ by one track. If so, then you can go on to get the full orchestral version to enjoy in its entirety.
Spend time with your friends and/or family (Business talk barred!)
How can this be relaxing when you have so much to do? Especially if there’s children about?
It brings you back down to earth. It grounds you. It turns your mind off – away from the dozens of business things going over and over in your brain. As your mind sheds those pressures, so your body will begin to relax.
Children and friends will engage you. They’ll talk about what they’ve been doing and what’s happening in their lives, and take the focus away from your business pressures. Go with it. Don’t be tempted to steer the conversation towards you and your concerns. It would defeat the whole purpose of the exercise.
It will also bring you an inner peace as you build bonds and strengthen relationships, making happy memories. Laughing and playing will boost your ‘feel-good’ hormones and make you feel energised and mentally refreshed, better equipped to face your many work-a-day challenges.
Go for a massage:
There’s nothing quite like a massage at the end of an ultra-busy work day.
I found that particularly an aromatherapy massage, with hand-picked relaxing oils to be the ultimate, physical path to a deep, refreshing night’s sleep after a difficult day at work. You feel pampered and soothed; all those tense muscles and ‘knots’ ironed out. Such a tranquil feeling.
It can have a transforming effect on you mind too, leaving you feeling peaceful. quiet and still.
A weekly massage will certainly help stop the physical and mental pressures from building up. And the therapeutic effects can last for some days afterwards.
Go on a relaxing holiday:
We’re talking a week or two’s holiday here. Not just a short break of 2-3 days or a weekend away. As they are so effective in regenerating you mentally and physically, it would be good to schedule one in every 3 months or so if possible.
It needn’t even be the other side of the world, but it does need to be far enough away so that you can’t conveniently pop back and to personally solve any minor emergency that crops up.
Forget about work, the phones, the customers, the challenges. Turn off from it. No, you can’t take that quote with you to work on over the holiday. Neither can you take those business reports you have to catch up on. It’s a time for you.
Which of the following would you choose to do on holiday ?
- Get up a bit (or a lot) later ?
- Have a relaxed breakfasts with the daily papers ?
- Have a daily, unhurried swim ?
- Do a bit of casual (or serious) shopping ?
- Relax by a pool or on the beach, perhaps reading that novel you’ve wanted to ?
- Spend time improving your golf handicap ?
- Be pampered having a pedicure, facial or massage (or all three!)?
- Go for a long, lazy walks ?
- Watch a late night films ?
Whatever you choose, just being out of reach of work and the change of pace will do you the power of good. Just the change of scenery and routine can be wonderfully refreshing and make all the difference to the way you operate when you get back. You’ll return ready to take on all comers !