Help with Relaxation

I had a pretty tough 2022 and spent the better part of 2023 recuperating from it.  My stress level has been
slowly decreasing with peaks, here and there.  I use a couple methods to help.  I exercise, meditate, do
breathing exercises, EFT Tapping, and utilize food to stabilize stress and anxiety.  

Exercise - Stretching, yoga, cardio, building muscle, walking.

Meditate - I have a certain meditation I do each day.  The key points to my meditation is to breath deeply,
                  work to quiet my mind and relax in to the seat.
                  There are many different types of meditation that can be used to relax.

Breathing Exercises - I use a specific breathing to rapidly calm myself.  I do one, breath normally for a bit,
                                   do another, breath normally for a bit, etc. until I feel more peaceful and calm.  It takes
                                   a bit to get used to but when you do, it is amazing!  I take a slow deep breath, filling
                                   my lungs up completely, then exhale completely and stop.  I stay as long as I comfortably
                                   can without air in my lungs.  Then, I resume breathing normally until I'm comfortable
                                   enough to go again.  I do this four or five times and feel much better afterwards.

EFT Tapping - I learned how to do this over 20 years ago.  EFT uses meridian points of the body to alleviate
                       symptoms of an emotional experience.  I use this to calm myself quickly.  Nowadays, after COVID,
                       it seems we are all on edge.  This helps me keep calm.
                       EFT Google Search

Relaxing Food - I really love Lemon Balm for help relaxing.  I always have it in my garden and forage for
                           it when I can.  I'm a fan of Dina Falconi and have followed her video on how to make a
                           Lemon Balm Infusion.
                           

I tried EFT tapping when the lockdowns started, because I went down the rabbit holes, and it was all too much to imagine, much less believe.  It has, and does help me, thank goodness, because I thought it was just a bunch of airy-fairy BS, until I was so desperate, I tried it.  And it helps!

My favorite ways to relax are to dance and do self massage.  

If I can't get to a social dance, I can dance along with videos, learn a new line dance I want to remember, or just put on some music and free dance at home.  Some songs just make you want to move, and once you get started, you want to keep going...and eventually, the endorphins kick in, and you're feeling fine!

Another way to relax, especially when I'm having trouble sleeping, is to do self massage.  I've noticed when I have trouble sleeping, often it's muscle tension that I don't realize I have.  Very often it's in my shoulders, after carrying heavy buckets of water, for example.

Or from leaning forward for too long (in a social gathering, or watching videos), my neck gets tight.

Or just subconscious, habitually holding tension in parts of my body I'm not aware of.  

I have multiple tools--bought, repurposed, or made-- to address this.  I love balls (roll on them as you lie on the floor, sit on a hard chair, or lean against a wall); wands like the Theracane; rollers of all firmnesses and makes (foam, wood, carpet-covered PVC); turned wooden tools; and all sorts of contraptions--everything from rubber cones to cutting boards with screws in them, topped with a drawer handle.  

I've said so many times that if I didn't massage myself regularly, I'm certain I would not be able to dance, probably not be able to walk.  Because I've fixed my own frozen shoulder, headaches, stiff neck, thrown out back, buckling leg, plantar fasciitis...and so much more.

In fact, I travel to dance workshops with a mini massage tool, and I've often fallen asleep while massaging my back/hips/legs with it.  It removes enough unrecognized tension that I can fall asleep.  I also carry a raquetball with me wherever I go and often give it away when I meet people who have some sort of pain that I know can be helped with massage.

It's frustrating to me that most people won't even consider some of the "alternative" stuff; they've been soooo brainwashed to believe drugs and surgery are the only way.  Honestly, I don't get it.  I know one dancer that still gets plantar fasciitis and cannot dance, even after I showed him how to massage it away (which I learned the hard way, after TEN YEARS of not dancing and trying everything short of surgery, to get rid of it...until I learned how to massage it away.)  Now it can be gone within a few minutes.

I couldn't help my friend avoid frozen shoulder surgery, because I didn't get MY frozen shoulder until after she got hers.  But it was:  learn the heck how to massage this to heal....or...be forced to use one hand to lift the other and be otherwise handicapped and in constant pain...because there was NO WAY I was going to have surgery.  Fortunately, I resolved it within about three days, if I recall, the first time.  Now, of course, I notice the symptoms ahead of time and massage before I get frozen.

Well, I guess that's why I'm here, on Permies...we seem to figure things out better than most and are not afraid to try "weird" stuff, huh?  hahahaha

Music is really relaxing to me.

Breathing exercises help with more than relaxation. Breathing exercises are my go-to for digestive problems.

I use T-touch for headaches and muscle aches.

Drinking lots of water is a cure-all for almost everything.