LEARNING TO RELAX

Relaxing in the water was one of the things that I have had to learn in swimming and especially in floating coz you all know if you can’t relax yourself when you float you will not be able to stay afloat. Learning to relax my muscles and just lay back in the pool has helped me in my personal life. 

What I am talking about here is the everyday day stuff. You see, I have always been the tensed up, stressed out, worried about my to do’s.  All the questions, stress and mind chatter. I have realized that all that worrying has really not gotten me anywhere. 

I needed to stop worrying, to lighten up a little up, to relax and then come up with some goals and a plan to deal with the day ahead of me.  I have noticed that by relaxing, I am more in control of my breathing and my shoulders are not hunched up anymore.

 You see, I never realized that when I am at work or home, my shoulders automatically get tight and stay that way especially if I have a long list of to do’s. I have now started to notice my tensed shoulders and muscles and then I take a few deep breathes, do some neck exercises, stretch and just relax. I immediately feel my shoulders drooping, my muscles loosening and my mind clearer and not so noisy. 

I always try to figure out the source of my tension and why am I always hunched up. Shouldn’t everyday life be fun, filled with joy and lightened up? Isn’t life too short anyways to not relax? I want to live  a long time and see my kids grow up and I know that staying  tensed was not only not going to accomplish anything but could also potentially lead to other health issues down the road. I had already started to experience headaches and decided that it was totally not worth it.

I needed to find a way to relax as I do when I am in the pool floating on my back. One of the first things is recognizing that I am tensed. Then I take a few deep breathes, get quiet, say a little prayer or meditate if I can. I also go for walk or listen to music or look up some funny jokes to laugh. I have found  all these things work for me.

Getting to the relaxed state every hour or every minute daily is important to me and has helped me feel less stressed. No matter what it is that I am doing, driving  in traffic, taking care of my young kids, dealing with my manager or coworker, deadlines at work, groceries, laundry, and the list can go on and on, I check in with myself to see how I  feel, how is my breathing and how  tensed are my muscles.  If every part of me is contracting then I take a moment to just relax. We are a culture that is on a constant go and tensing up just makes me feel more stressed, more worked up, more agitated, not as present and centered which is my daily goal.

But what I am referring to here is just the daily grind of work, school, activities, laundry cooking etc. It won’t make the list of things that you have to complete go away but it will help you to better deal with it while you are in it. I think just relaxing in anything will help and for me it has helped me to float in the water.   

I am not in that constant relaxed state but I do notice myself a lot more and that’s when I take the steps to relax and calm my mind and feel my body as if I am floating on my back. I do have to visualize floating on my back to help me to get to that relaxed feeling.  Then I list all the things I need to accomplish and take the necessary steps to handle the day.

 I often laugh at myself for taking things so seriously. I also find myself able to accomplish a lot more and do things more efficiently. So every morning, when I wake up I tell myself that no matter what the day holds, I will stay relaxed .  My mantra is: Life is too short so go ahead breathe and relax. Staying relaxed should be the way of life.

Peace,

Monita