Self Help Daily

Inspirational and Self Help Blog with a Save the World Complex...

You are here: Home / Archives for relaxation

relaxation

Find Your “Relaxing Place” (It could be the smartest thing you do this year!)

by Leave a Comment

Relaxation QuoteGreat Quote About Relaxation

My weekdays are incredibly busy – so much moving, thinking, and schedule-busting I must sometimes look like a bumble bee going from flower to flower. And, frankly, I couldn’t be more  grateful. One of the greatest blessings of my life is being able to watch three grandbabies when their parents are at work.

I might mention the fact that they’re currently 1, 2, and 4.

Buzzzzzzzzzzz from flower to flower…

I’m also an avid cook, voracious old movie fan, love flower gardening, am an avid reader, and web publisher with a food blog, old Hollywood blog, cat blog, Kentucky travel blog, and (obliviously) a self help blog! Obviously, my grandbabies always come first, but suffice to say I stay busy on weekends, before and after they arrive, and when they’re napping.

After cooking and eating supper, cleaning up the kitchen, taking my shower, and putting on so much girly smelling lotion that I smell like the flowers I bounce around, I glide into my favorite den chair and…. ahhhhhhhhhh! Two things can be true – you can be completely in love with what you do from 8:00 to 6:00 AND be completely in love with the stillness from 6:00 to bedtime.

“It is nice finding that place where you can just go and relax.” ~Moises Arias

My den chair represents relaxation to me and, after reading the wonderful quote above by Moises Arias, I’ve begun calling it my relaxing place. The mind stays active (most of the time anyway) when I’m in my relaxing place but the body takes the opportunity to simply relax and unwind. I sip hot tea, watch tv with my husband, catch up on Twitter (my old Hollywood Twitter page is so fun I always love seeing what people have to say!).

I find that this period of time to be fun, enjoyable, relaxing, and in many ways healing. The body can go through a lot during a busy day, I’m convinced relaxing times such as this give your body time to catch its breath, unwind, and kind of get in touch with life.

Sounds as flowery as I smell after a shower, but sometimes flowery words can also do a body good!

Carving out a period of relaxation in your relaxing place each evening also helps with sleep. If you try to go instantly from busy mode to sleep mode, your body and mind are going to be too stunned to cooperate! You have to give them time to rewind… to change the pace from day to night. Trust me, it works miracles.

An extra benefit of having your own special relaxing place and relaxing time is that it gives you something to look forward to. A few days ago, even though (unfortunately!) none of my precious grandbabies were here, I stayed busy from around 9:00 to 4:00 –  packing up Christmas, boxing, cleaning, doing maintenance on my blogs, catching up on e-mail, etc. Several times throughout the day, I’d think about my relaxing place, my hot tea, tv and conversation with my husband, and every single glorious ahhhhhhh that comes with the evening. It gave me something to look forward to through all the business and it was glorious.

I often sign my Self Help Daily posts with the words, “Make each moment count double,” but today, I have a different sign off in mind….

Make each relaxing moment count triple! ~ Joi

14 Patterns of Biophilic Design (Gorgeous Infographic!)

by Leave a Comment

First things first, you are probably asking, “What is Biophilic Design?!” I don’t blame you, I was asking the same question when this beautiful infographic was sent to me. I thought… Cool, but what is it?!

Turns out it’s my exact aesthetic – it just never had a name before!

Biophilic Design is a style of decorating that reconnects humans with the natural world around them. Personally, I have always preferred the colors and ambiance of nature in my surroundings. I love earth tones such as blues, greens, browns, and colors that remind me of my favorite flowers (purples and pinks) and birds (reds and blues).

And now it has a name!

The thing I love most about this type of design is the fact that it’s so relaxing and harmonious. I’ve read a lot about Feng Shui in my life and these harmonious colors would get a nod of approval from any Feng Shui expert. After all, the best designs are those which leave you feeling that you have expressed yourself AND those designs that encourage relaxation and peace of mind. You’ll find that Biophilic Design is ideal for each of these goals.

 

Biophilic Design is based on 14 patterns – more guidelines than they are absolute rules or laws. They’re listed and discussed below.

 

images of the 14 patterns of biophilic design

Infographic Credit: Biophilic Design

Learning How to Relax May Be the Best Gift You Can Give Yourself

by Leave a Comment

Quote About Relaxation

They say that the weather is something everyone talks about, yet nobody does anything about it. If you ask me, relaxation is right up there with the weather. Seems like everyone wants to relax more but few…very few actually.. take steps to make it happen.

I’m as guilty as anyone! In fact, my own frustrating behavior is the inspiration for this post. Earlier, I felt a little stressed out and a lot tired. I work from home which means a couple of things..

  1. I still know what stress is. Just because you work from the happy confines of your own home doesn’t mean you and stress are strangers. Somehow, when you work from home, people think you are immune to stress and can relax anytime you want. Those who aren’t employed are considered to be as stress-free as a house cat! When I was raising my three daughters and teaching them in our home school, I got the impression that everyone thought I had the life of a pampered cat – lying around all day, only moving when absolutely necessary. Ha!
  2.  I do have the luxury of pacing myself. This one is a huge luxury for those of us who spend our days at home. If we need to simply sit and read a book for 30 minutes, we almost always can do so.

Earlier, because of a few things online that were fighting me with all they had and because of having to take more allergy medicine than usual lately, I felt like I was about to come unwound. So I grabbed an Agatha Christie book and, wisely, decided to sit in my favorite chair and read a few chapters.

I wasn’t even through one before my restlessness got the better of me and I was back at the computer fighting everything that had it in for me today. This did not make me valiant. This did not make me a warrior princess. This did not make me a fighter.

It made me ridiculous.

A real fighter or warrior would have done exactly what they needed to do to refuel – in order to come back stronger and better than ever. They would have taken the time to restore their mind, body, and soul.When it comes to getting in my own way, I’m so good at it I could go pro. Maybe you can relate.

The thing that got me UP from the chair and squarely IN my own way was one single thought, “I have so many things to do!”

We are becoming more and more programmed to believe that we have to be productive every waking hour. This mindset isn’t doing our minds or bodies one ounce of good – in fact, the mindset is responsible for so many ills, I honestly couldn’t even begin to name them all.

Sometimes, the smartest thing to DO is to DO nothing. As Mark Black says, “Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.”

The next time you feel stressed, anxious, wired, or just plain gassed, find a comfortable chair and just RELAX. Put down your phone and put your thoughts at arm’s length. Give yourself at least 20 minutes to simply sit and relax. Read a great book, pet your cat, drink some tea… or, as I’m 5 minutes away from… do all three!

~ Joi (“Joy”)

Physical, Emotional, and Mental Benefits of the Recolor App: It’s More Than Just FUN!

by 4 Comments

Recolor App Beautiful Music Lover

I’ve been wanting to tell you about one of my favorite new apps for a long time now.  However…. as is so my way… I’ve been waiting for today, National Coloring Book Day.

Yes, my brain does work like that….

The app is the Recolor App and I love it with all of my being. I have the app on both my iPad and my iPhone. I really have no idea how I ever got along without it and am anxious for you to get your fingers on the free app and fall in love too.

Recolor is a beautifully creative and high-quality coloring book on mobile, including +1100 gorgeous art illustrations. It’s as easy as possible to figure out – you won’t even need a teenager to explain it to you.

Below are a couple of benefits to this creative and fun app.

Ice Cream Cone: Some Images are Simple, While Others Are More Complex

RELAXATION: Fun Way to Relax and Unwind

People, crazily enough, seem to think that if you work from home you are a stranger to stressful days. When I encounter such mindsets (depending upon the day I’m having at the time), I either laugh or fight to contain a plethora of words that’d make my mom blush.

Regardless of your vocation – lawyer, writer, housewife, teacher, blogger, salesman, stay-at-home mom, businesswoman, nurse, office manager…. you know what a stressful day looks like, what it sounds like, and what it feels like. Basically, if you’re a human, you’re intimate with stress.

One of the best ways to deal with stress is to unwind and to get your mind as far away from the stress as possible. The Recolor app allows you to do just that by “escaping” into a fun world where your biggest concern is whether to make a cat orange, black, or white or whether you want to create a lake scene that depicts the lake during the day or evening.

Ahhhh… just thinking about this creative world makes me feel peaceful.

A “Mandala”

MENTAL FITNESS: Get in Touch With Your Creative Side

As you may know, I have a mental fitness blog (Out of Bounds) where I share tips for staying mentally sharp, preventing Alzheimer’s and Dementia, battling anxiety and stress, etc. I do untold amounts of research for my mental fitness blog (as well as each of my blogs, of course.).  The top experts in the field of mental health recommend “exercising” your creativity as well as your memorization and critical thinking skills.  Yet the creative aspect is one many people ignore. A lot of people will eat the foods necessary for brain health, read thought-provoking books, and even make sure they learn how to do new skills or educate themselves in new areas.

While each of these areas are excellent… make that very excellent… if they’re ignoring exercising their creativity, they aren’t doing all they can for their brain’s health. Your brain craves the opportunity to be creative as much as it craves the opportunity to learn new things.

Adult coloring books (physical or virtual) are a fun and excellent way to provide this creativity your brain desires. The “mandalas” (one is pictured above) can be especially mentally-stimulating. If you decide to make a certain shape a certain color, it’s kind of stimulating, mentally and creatively, to sort through the “puzzle” to find all the similar shapes.

It’s also very stimulating, creatively, to decide on harmonizing colors. Choosing a color scheme is one of my favorite things about the app.

COPE WITH ANXIETY: Entertaining Way to Keep Your Hands and Minds Busy

While I, personally, do now struggle with anxiety, I have read a great deal about the fight many people face with it. In fact, I have several members in my family who deal with anxiety and the many colorful ways it manifests itself.

One of the fastest, simplest, and most beneficial ways to cope with anxiety is simply to occupy your hands and your minds.  When you do so, it gives the “nervous energy” that’s buzzing around your head a place to go! It’s as though you usher them into the art room and close the door behind them.

Don’t worry about them, though, they’ll be far too busy having fun to worry about the door being closed.

There’s simply a lot to be said for spending time with an activity that’s all about colors, beauty, creativity, and good old-fashioned fun.  You can share your creations with others in the Recolor Community, or you can simply use it as your own personal space to unwind and experience adult recess.

Physical Benefits

No, coloring in a great coloring app isn’t going to burn enough calories to qualify as physical fitness (unless, of course, you color while on a treadmill or stationary bike – which are excellent ideas actually), but when you look at the benefits named above, you have all you need to know about the physical benefits. Where our minds and hearts (emotions) go, our physical bodies follow. When we’re under stress, dealing with anxiety, or not stimulating our minds enough, our physical health suffers.

By the same token, when we’re taking care of these other areas, our physical health responds favorably.

You might even find yourself snacking less at night (especially if you’re one who snacks as a result of stress or anxiety), which most definitely is physically beneficial.

I hope you’ll check out the Recolor App – you’re going to love it. It’s free, fun*, and… trust me… fabulous!

* It’s free to download and you receive new “free” images to color daily. There is an option to pay for access to far more pictures, colors, and effects but I personally have never done so. It simply isn’t necessary, unless you just can’t get enough of the fun!

An Image I Haven’t Colored… Yet!

More About Recolor

Each image, when clicked, fills your screen. You’re presented with a palette of colors to choose from. You scroll at the bottom to find more.  Above the image, you’ll see an option (looks like a finger swiping) that allows you to “sweep” the color across an image as opposed to filling one small area at a time. You can easily undo a color if it no longer suits you… then promptly find one that does.

In addition to a great variety of colors, you can also choose an “effect” for your image. The free ones are Shadow, Wall, Crumbled Paper, and Art Paper. They’ve also come out with “Filters” for your image – kind of like instagram filters.

There are so many delicious options!

One final note – I love the diversity this app showcases. The individuals available to color cover various races and sexes. It’s just another thing this app gets “right.”

TIP: If you find a picture that was especially fun to color, go back and “edit” the picture by coloring it all over again. See the beautiful music lover at the top of the post? She has worn red, orange, gold, and purple. While she was stunning in each, she and I both decided that purple was her color. Makes her smile stand out, don’t you think?

Check out the Recolor App today.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a coffee picture to color…

Soothe Your Senses with a Luxury Spa Treatment at Home

by Leave a Comment

Get a Spa Treatment at Home!

We don’t all have the time and money to spend pampering ourselves with lavish spa weekends, but that doesn’t mean we can’t indulge at home from time to time. Read on to see how you can temporarily transform your household bathroom into a luxury treatment centre, for all of your senses.

Sight

Before you even touch a tap, make sure your bathroom is relatively tidy. Mess seems to especially accumulate around bathroom basins and tubs, so take five minutes to tidy away any bits and pieces you don’t intend to use. There’s no need to spend a lot of time cleaning, but you definitely deserve better than the morning’s towels on the floor and a full bin.

Next, adjust the lighting. Glaring task lights are great for seeing what we’re doing in the morning, but don’t lend any atmosphere to a relaxing soak in the bath. Accent lights, low-wattage bulbs and candlelight are much easier on the eyes, and can help tune your mind to a more meditative state.

Scent

A soothing scent will transport you away from a hectic household, and straight into your zen space. There are many fragrances that are said to promote calmness and relieve anxiety, and ingredients such as lavender, jasmine and sandalwood are often used in health spa products. Take your time to pick a scent that your personally enjoy, as it will help you to de-stress that much quicker.

There are lots of ways to fragrance a room, with options to suit every bathroom. Static air fresheners, plug-ins or reed diffusers are great for gently emitting a constant scent, but these can get a little lost once our noses become accustomed to them. Lighting complementary scented candles or incense will enhance the aroma just in time for your soak, or for the full spa experience, try using aromatherapy oils.

Sound

If silence is golden, why do our minds fill with obscure clutter and last minute “to do” notes at the very end of the day? Avoid your brain going into overdrive after five minutes of quiet by preparing a soothing soundtrack to help you unwind.

Most streaming services will have some ready-made playlists to choose from, with something to offer for every genre. You can even find tracks of ambient soundscapes, like ocean waves gently breaking, crackling log fires or distant, calming thunderstorms.

For particularly busy households, you will need two extra things. Firstly, some quality headphones to block out the noise. Make sure you find ones with an extra-long wire, so you can keep your music device far away from the bath. Secondly, if you don’t already have one, purchase and install a lock on your bathroom door, so that the source of the racket can’t come in and disturb your peace.

Touch

While you might not be able to recreate the exact luxury of a spa treatment, simply indulging in different products from your daily routine will tell your brain that your session is extra-special. Elevate your bath time to an extravagant, replenishing soak with two cups of Epsom salts, or by adding a squeeze of beautifully scented bubble bath.

Make sure to properly pamper yourself with a home treatment or two. If you have been waiting to use a conditioning hair balm, face mask or body scrub, now is the perfect time to let it work its magic while you soak. Spoil yourself with premium products, just as you would in a spa – it’s not like you get a chance to every day.

When you’re ready to get out, have fresh, fluffy towels waiting for you, alongside a cosy dressing gown and slippers.

Taste

It may usually be the last sense we think about in a bathroom, but your taste buds deserve a treat as much as the rest of you.

Start your treatment session with a mug of herbal tea (or glass of wine) while your bath runs. Try to find a comfortable spot to enjoy it, without interruptions from your family or phone.

Prepare yourself an extra drink and snack for when your bath is ready. Icy water and chopped fruit, for example, feel particularly refreshing during a hot soak… although so do wine and chocolate – it’s entirely your choice!

Get a Spa Treatment at Home!