Would you believe me if I told you the average American feels relaxed less than an hour a day? With greater than 75% of people reporting they deal with stress daily. With these kinds of statistics, this topic needs to be discussed. The ability to relax keeps our bodies healthier. We are less stressed and our muscles are less tense. These things help our overall health. By learning to relax, we help our brain and memory as well as symptoms from anxiety and depression. Could you use some tips to increase your ability to relax? That is what we talking about today.
Why Do I Not Relax?
With the seemingly demand to succeed in all things ever increasing, our health is decreasing proportionally. Regardless of what causes you to not be able to relax, the results can be harmful to you and your relationships. Creating time to be calm and relax is important to nourish your body physically, your mental stability and your outlook. But what happens when we don’t have the ability to relax often enough? Do you want to understand what could be contributing to your lack of relaxation?
- Watching too much news creates constant flow of stress
- You have a tendency to measure self-worth from achievements
- Spending too much time on social media, comparing our lives to others
- Your schedule is overly busy, not allowing down time
- Possible anxiety, depression or ADHD
- Too many to-do lists
- Not making self-care a priority
Could you relate to this list? If you find yourself familiar with multiple of these, I encourage you to read on. Take a stand for your health.
What Can Happen If I Don’t Relax?
We can push through life sometimes on autopilot. We can thrive and even accomplish great things in life, but not frequently and consistently without pause. Our body has a need for down time. Time to restore and pause for replenishment. Ignoring the signs and symptoms of our bodies needs can lead to many things, most of which we would mostly consider unwanted. When we push our bodies without times of relaxation many side affects can take place, a few of those are mentioned below.
- Physical pain within your body
- Muscle tightness and strain
- More frequent illness
- Increased inflammation in the body
- Sleep deprivation
- Mental fogginess
- Memory issues
- Heart issues
Pushing through and pushing your body may seem like a good idea, until you understand the harm it can bring to your body. If you struggle to find time to relax, take a look below and see which of these you could incorporate into your days.
How Can Learn to Relax?
Adding in a bit of time here and there to give your body space to relax doesn’t necessarily mean a life change overall. You could start with one of these simple suggestions and then continue to seek help if relaxing is still not finding it’s way into your day. The important take away is to add some length of time to your day in an effort to decompress and relax. Ready to see what may work within your day? Take a look below for ways to incorporate relaxing.
- Talk a walk, even if you only have five minutes
- Try a class to learn something new
- Join a gym
- Practice breathing techniques
- Explore doing something creative
- Listen to relaxing music
- Refrain from social media, read a good book instead
- Add an empty block of time into your schedule – choose a relaxing suggestion
- Establish a night time routine
These are a few suggestions but the most important step is to choose you. Recognize the need to relax if you have one and take that stand for yourself. It is needed. Do you struggle to relax and have tried change, but still need help? You are not alone. Upstate Restorative Counseling has a team of therapists who desire to walk along side you.
