What Are Things That Truly Relax You?

[Mufasa]

Let's focus on other things than food/supplements and biochemistry in this thread.

I think it is clear if you read Ray Peat's work that being able to truly relax is super important for your overall health. I think he also said that too much thinking and reading can be estrogenic.

When I was younger, I always would play video games and watch movies etc, when I was off school. I saw that as relaxing. I begin to notice more and more that those activities are not that relaxing at all. These days, I have the tendency to watch/read too much news, social media, youtube whatever. This may be even worse hehe.

Now since I'm working full time, I'm more and more interested in spending time off work in a healthy way. So I would like to invite people to share their ways of truly relaxing their body, or what kind of fun healthy things you do, that helps you life a healthy lifestyle.

With "health" I mean of course, an anti-stress, anti-estrogenic, pro-dopamine, pro-metabolic, pro-fun kind of activities.

So I will start off with things that I find relaxing:

- Yoga, especially Yin Yoga
This is a kind of yoga with the least kind of activity you can imagine. You basically sit in or lay in postures, for around 5-10 minutes each posture. It helps your muscles to relax, be less stiff, and be more flexible. Here is a video:


- Foundation training:
More active kind of yoga, I like this, because the postures are more designed for man it seems. It really helps to get your chest up and feel powerful. Here are a couple of videos:
Foundation Training on Vimeo

- Music
I love listening to music and dancing to and not caring a dime how it looks. Here are two spotify playlist I listen to a lot:
Late nite grooves, a playlist by Mathieu J. Elwood on Spotify
Zomerdromers, a playlist by Mathieu J. Elwood on Spotify

 

[Filip1993]

Starch, eggshell calcium, 80-90 grams of protein, hanging out with friends or a girl I like, meditation, keeping caffeine low, nicotine and netflix.

 

[Pointless]

If my stress is low and energy is up, then meditation can get me in a serious relax zone. Even at work, I'm impervious to stress. But if I'm stressed (being general here), I'm just distracted while trying to meditate, and it has no effect.

 

[milk_lover]

Theanine is fantastic for relaxation. Pregnenolone and glycine are also good. Sunshine, red light, and vitamin D are so relaxing if done appropriately. I get so sleepy after I put some vitamin D MCT oil based on my wrists.

 

[Jennifer]

Off the top of my head...

- Listening to music and dancing is my go to for relaxing or empowering myself.
- Hiking local trails with my dog. I find getting lost in nature relaxing.
- Going geo caching. I find the fun treasure hunt aspect helps relieve built up tension.
- Watching the cooking channel. I don't know why, but seeing things being mixed is relaxing to me.
- Watching a comedy act, particularly Jeff Dunham's with his puppet, Achmed.
- Sitting out on my front stoop at twilight and watching the bats and fireflies circle around me, while listening to a choir of spring peepers and crickets. Same for early morning. I find the birds have the most sparkly sound then.
- Random road trips with my best friends. I find that kind of freedom and adventure to be very de-stressing.
- Playing card games with my grandmother and mum.
- Having my hair brushed. The stroking down my scalp and back feels so relaxing. Same for a massage. I believe a weekly massage is an amazing investment in health if one can afford it.
- Coloring/doodling.
- Building cities with Legos.

The last two may seem really juvenile but I've always found them to be very relaxing and believe a little play can do wonders for us adults.

 

[EIRE24]

Starch, eggshell calcium, 80-90 grams of protein, hanging out with friends or a girl I like, meditation, keeping caffeine low, nicotine and netflix.

Brilliant list. I would say a lot of these things help me too.

 

[Filip1993]

Brilliant list. I would say a lot of these things help me too.

Cool. Tianeptine is really awesome too if you want to experiment a bit. I have ordered som lisuride from Haidut, so I'm going to experiment with that also. I don't really like taking supplements but I find it completely necessary ... Tianeptine and nicotine are my only supplements right now. And eggshell calcium.

 

[yerrag]

Cat wrapped over my back while asleep. Looking at my koi swimming, feeding them by hand, my koi coming to me for a pat, and enjoying the sound of the waterfalls by the pond. Having a massage in a beach right after a rain, with the cool dry air on a sunny day. Enjoying breakfast with friends with little interruption from facebook or text messages. Kayaking in a calm stretch of river. Swimming in a clear spring. Swimming past midnight in a lake. Having pizza and beer with friends after an afternoon of kayaking, famished! Enjoying a public hot spring out in Texas with strangers and having a good time.

 

[member 2106]

Theanine is fantastic for relaxation. Pregnenolone and glycine are also good. Sunshine, red light, and vitamin D are so relaxing if done appropriately. I get so sleepy after I put some vitamin D MCT oil based on my wrists.

Do you think Theanine from cups of tea is a good source?

 

[milk_lover]

Do you think Theanine from cups of tea is a good source?

I heard it's estrogenic if you drink so much.

 

[member 2106]

I heard it's estrogenic if you drink so much.

I wonder if one or two well-brewed cups a day would deliver a relaxing amount of Theanine without the estrogenic effect. Can anyone provide any clarity here? I'd imagine the estrogenic effect you're referring to would be from too much liquid, if for example you were drinking more than 5 cups a day, which I'd hazard is pretty common here in the UK.

 

[Jennifer]

Cat wrapped over my back while asleep. Looking at my koi swimming, feeding them by hand, my koi coming to me for a pat, and enjoying the sound of the waterfalls by the pond. Having a massage in a beach right after a rain, with the cool dry air on a sunny day. Enjoying breakfast with friends with little interruption from facebook or text messages. Kayaking in a calm stretch of river. Swimming in a clear spring. Swimming past midnight in a lake. Having pizza and beer with friends after an afternoon of kayaking, famished! Enjoying a public hot spring out in Texas with strangers and having a good time.

Beautiful, yerrag! That sounds like a wonderful life. :)

 

[Ras]

Productive pleasure.

 

[Pointless]

I wonder if one or two well-brewed cups a day would deliver a relaxing amount of Theanine without the estrogenic effect. Can anyone provide any clarity here? I'd imagine the estrogenic effect you're referring to would be from too much liquid, if for example you were drinking more than 5 cups a day, which I'd hazard is pretty common here in the UK.

No I think it's the actual tea that's estrogenic. The tea plant also sucks up fluoride like a sponge. You can get high theanine varieties of tea, though, so I imagine that would optimize the risk and reward.

 

[milk_lover]

Many people I know swear by green tea for losing weight and mental relaxation. So it could be that it has enough theanine to offset the estrogenic flavonoids found in the tea. I don't see how estorgen can help people slim down.

 

[yerrag]

Beautiful, yerrag! That sounds like a wonderful life. :)

Those were wonderful moments that tide me by. It's my way of sending in the clowns. I keep working on the wonderful life part.

 

[milomag]

Seeing that I'm not in my body, but that my body is in me. This is immaculate pre-conception. I'm already whole and complete. No more self-centered "me" heaviness. It's relaxing to see beyond the duality of thinking.

 

[jaakkima]

Music (making or listening to)
Sexual activity
Good ambient temperature, not hot or cold, like in the 60s Farenheit, and fresh air
Having a drink with a friend
Going somewhere different
Certain places/towns, while other places make me uptight because I think everyone else is uptight
Coming up with a good idea and writing it down (though thinking can be stressful, so maybe it's more a byproduct of relaxing and perceiving something)
Humor/comedy/laughing

 

[jyb]

Truly relaxing? Shoving some cyproheptadine. So relaxed you will sleep for a whole day.

 

[yerrag]

Sometimes when I take something apart, and I find it was designed to be taken apart easily, so that it could be fixed easily. It doesn't happen often, where many things are just meant to be disposable and every attempt to fix ends up destroying it further. A German-made item even had grease so unscrewing was so easy. It is relaxing knowing someone (a company) cares enough to put careful attention to small details that count, knowing they will be appreciated.