¡Gracias por compartir! / Thanks for sharing!

“…the most important thing: find moments to relax during the day. Do not wait until your muscles end up as hard as stone, or your mind gets saturated”.

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It seems unreal, but with all the activities we do, and all we have in our heads during the day, we don’t realize how exhausted and tense we are until it’s time to go to bed, and sometimes we can’t even do that properly, because there’s something on our mind, or our body is just too tense.

Even though our crazy rhythm seems to be a normal thing, it’s not. Our body and mind need to recharge energy, not only during our night sleep, but also during the day, with little moments and actions that help us avoid extreme exhaustion, which eventually leads to stress, or some illness.

I want to give you some methods I use, in order to recharge my energy and continue with my duties. They are simple, but still quite helpful to your physical and mental health.

Stretching exercises, in the morning and before bed

It feels amazing to do stretching. Sometimes, that activity alone makes you feel spectacular and recharged. This happens because stretching helps improve our blood circulatory system, therefore, oxygen circulates better through our body.

Do some stretching as soon as you wake up and some more before bed, you can find some good stretching positions on this link. You will note the difference!

Reading breaks

Reading is a great way to disconnect from reality and usually, we don’t give it the time it deserves. When we have so much to do, reading moves to the end of our to-do list and personally, that was affecting me because I love to lose myself in books.

Stop what you are doing and set 30 minutes in your cellphone timer, sit comfortably and read. I’m sure you have a waiting list so you will not only relax, but you will keep up with your favorite readings.

Listening to your favorite music

Listening to music that relaxes you or gives you energy, depending on the moment, that makes a huge difference.

When I’m working on my computer, I listen to my instrumental music playlist, that keeps me relaxed and focused. When I’m working in the kitchen and I know it’s going to take long hours, I listen to my electronic music playlist, that good energy helps me work at good pace.

Create different playlists that work for you according to the activity you are doing, that will help you concentrate and relax, you will work better.

Create different playlists that work for you according to the activity you are doing, that will help you concentrate and relax, you will work better.

Find a hobby

Find an activity that is not mandatory, one that you like to do and relaxes you. Even if it is a bit hard to learn, the change alone will reset your brain.

About a year ago I started learning German and Chinese via Duolingo App, I do it because I love languages. Besides, those exercises are entertaining, and I also see them as memory training. It’s like a game to me, it relaxes me.

You can search for Apps with activities you enjoy, like games, workouts, or simply learn something you’ve always wanted to learn. Something that is not obligatory.

Meditation

If you think meditation is not for you, you are wrong. You don’t need a special ritual or a specific place to meditate.

Meditation is a mental training that involves a wide kind of techniques, with the purpose of providing relaxation by taking a person to a serenity, peaceful and calm state; it also helps recharge internal energy.

If you don’t have time to meditate during the day, you can do it before sleep: create a 30-minute meditation music playlist, lay on your bed, facing the roof, focus of the flow of your conscious breathing and channel your thoughts towards it, leaving behind any other thought.

This kind of meditation works wonders on me. I was having some sleep problems lately; with this technique I relax in such a way, that I fall deeply asleep and wake up well rested in the morning.

There are plenty different techniques, you can find lots of them on YouTube, I’m sure you’ll find the right one for you.

Find a cardio routine that you can enjoy

Even though we do a thousand activities during the day, none of them counts as cardio, which is an activity our body needs to stay healthy, doesn’t matter which body type you have.

Doing cardio helps improve our resistance and increases our energy level. Actually, it has many benefits, but the one that concerns us right now, is that cardio releases tension. You can practice waking, cycling, running, jogging, aerobics, and many more.

Due to quarantine, I stopped any physical activity and that started to become a huge problem.

This is what worked for me: I placed an elliptical machine in front of our living room TV. After my son goes to sleep, I start watching my favorite series, and while I’m on it, I do stretching and then half an hour of the elliptical machine (I started with 20 minutes and increasing); after that, I do some more stretching, drink lots of water and take a quick shower. The feeling is spectacular, and I end up doing two things at the same time, because it also relaxes me when I get the chance to watch my current beloved series.

The best part is, that I am so focused on the show, that even though I can’t breathe properly, I slow down at times, but never stop until I’m done. This method might be a bit embarrassing, but it’s the only thing that’s worked for me, to get my cardio done. You must find the best way for you, but find it fast and get on it, because cardio is a necessity for your body. You’ll see how relaxed you feel afterwards.

I really hope these tips help you, the most important thing: find moments to relax during the day. Do not wait until your muscles end up as hard as stone, or your mind is saturated.

Xoxo,

MJ

Other Blog posts:

6 advantages of traveling alone

The process of grief

How to help our children cope with quarantine

The importance of me-time as a mom

¡Gracias por compartir! / Thanks for sharing!