Today, I’m going to talk to you about the art of RELAXATION. Who does that anymore? Well, while it’s not always convenient to properly rest and relax, it’s actually extremely important and beneficial to your body. You see, your body is always working, nonstop. Everything you read, you say, you hear, touch, smell, and taste, are all things for your brain to process. Every movement you do, is working diffierent parts of your body.
Exercise works your body hard, and you benefit from it in so many ways. However, if you don’t take proper time to rest and recover from the workout, you’ll do your body more harm than good. Rest is important. Sleep will allow your body to restore and repair the muscle tissue that you worked, and make it grow. When you do strength training, what you are actually doing is tearing the muscle tissue, so that it can grow. But if you don’t rest well, your body won’t be able to restore the muscle tissue. And, when you work your body really hard, if you don’t rest, it won’t be able to process the fat burning you’ve been working on, and the added stress will instead increase the fat instead of reduce it. So rest is important. Workout, eat right, and rest so your body can process all of the good things you’re giving it, and you will be rewarded for your efforts.
Also, when you sleep at night, aside from repairing your muscle tissue, your brain is also erasing certain things from your mind. Think of wiping off the unimportant parts of the text written on a chalkboard. I know we all read that and think “Oh no, I don’t want to forget things when I sleep!” But the fact is that that is how it works, and if your brain doesn’t empty itself out at least some every night, your brain will have too much going on and will make things more difficult. Brian fog and fatigue is a problem from this too. Too much going on in there. So you need to get the proper amount of sleep, and really deep sleep too, if your brainis going to function properly. You need to go through all the REM cycles at night, or you won’t get the proper recovery to prepare you for another day. If you want more tips to improve your sleep quality, go to this blog post: Sleep like a Champion.
So far, I’ve mainly talked about sleep, which is important, but it’s not the only kind of rest. You need to have a rest day every week. And I don’t just mean a rest day from your workouts. You need to have a day to yourself. Where you can just relax. If you feel relaxed going out with your friends or family, then do to that. But you also need to make sure you have some rest days at least occasionally, that are only for yourself. Days that you can just curl up with a good book and a cup of tea, enjoy the weather, and the peace and quiet. Friends and family can help make you happy and restore your energy, but it is still doing something, and it is demanding. You have to get ready to either go somewhere or prepare for someone to come to your house. And then, especially if you’re a host, you have to entertain even when you’re tired. I’m not saying anything against having friends over or hanging out with friends, but I am saying that that’s not always the same kind of rest that you need.
So, I’ll give you some tips here to help you rest more successfully at home. If you like to read books, pick one out and set it aside. Make yourself a cup of relaxing tea, perhaps even your favorite kind. If it’s cold, put a fire in the fireplace. If it’s cold, turn on the air conditioning. I have a diffuser blend that I use as well. Clary Sage, Bergamot, and Lavender are wonderful anti-stress essential oils. Put them in your diffuser and turn it on. You can also rub diluted lavender essential oil on your temples to help you relax.
Take an epsom salt bath. Add lavender essential oil, vetiver essential oil is also really good for stress. But make sure you mix the oils with the salt first, otherwise it’ll float on top of the water and could possibly burn you when you get in. Mix it well, then add it to the water. Relax in there with some quiet music and soak up all that magnesium and the essential oils that will relax you and de-stress you.
Please keep in mind that if you have any issues with a certain essential oil, whether the smell bothers you or you just don’t like the oil for some reason, all the “anti-stress benefits” will do you no good if the oil irritates you. Everyone is different. Find what you like.
Herbs for stress are: Chamomile, Motherwort, St. John’s Wort, Eleuthero, Holy Basil, Lavender, and Mimosa. You can make a tea from these, and that will also help you relax.
Peace and quiet, or your favorite music, can also help you relax. You can even do some light stretching or yoga to help you relax even more. Go for a walk in the forest, and just enjoy the nature and the fresh air. Just remember to take it easy when you’re supposed to be resting and recovering. If you’re religious, pray. Seek peace and quiet to just marvel at the universe, and the God who created it. This will also help you relax and de-stress.
Now, I know that this isn’t always the most practical tip, but since this is a “relaxing” blog post, I’ll put it in anyway for those of you who can do it. A vacation from your daily life is a great way to de-stress. Take some time off and go somewhere new, somewhere that you can just enjoy being, and will make you happy. I know vacations are expensive, and that they are not always an option, so this is not a “must”, but if you can take one when you need it, try to. And of course, you can even make your rest days at home seem like a vacation. Or find a new place nearby that you haven’t gone, and go see it. Call me weird if you will, but my happy places are bookstores and museums, so… if you like that then I guess we’re best buddies, but if not, then there are plenty of other things in the world that can be your happy place. Think about it, and decide what it is that makes you happy. I love seeing animals, and a pet store would normally be my ideal kind of happy place, except I can’t really afford to go to places like that, because then I want to buy all of the pets. So, go within your means. 😉
Taking a proper rest day is important for your mental, physical, and spiritual health. It will help you prepare for another day of work, another day with your kids, another day that could be filled with stress and obstacles, and it will help you handle it better than you would if you were already stressed out. It’s so important to try to relax and de-stress. I wish that mroe people knew just how important. That’s why I’m writing this blog post. Please share it with a friend, or a family member who has a stressful job, is going through a hard time, or might need some advice on this. Have a wonderful day, relax and de-stress, and I’ll see you all in next week’s blog post.