Write, doesn’t have to be perfect just whatever comes out.
Drawing, mostly doodles.
Read, I like reading people’s stories more than fantasy.
Meditation, it works.
Silence or Radio. Viberadio is one of my favorite.
Ask HN: How do you relax without drugs/alcohol/sex/exercise?
11–20 of 29 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you relax without drugs/alcohol/sex/exercise?
#12What's the main driver for excluding exercise? Being outside on my own is pretty good in general. Walking or cycling are the defaults, but maybe count as exercise? I've recently started riding a motorbike and spin on some quiet-ish open roads can be pretty rewarding...
Tough to do/enjoy when there’s snow on the ground and a wind chill of 5F. Not all of us live in sunny California.
You could buy an exercise bike?
Or do cardio exercises by watching various YouTube channels? (This is how my friend keeps fit.)
Re: Ask HN: How do you relax without drugs/alcohol/sex/exercise?
#13Cuddle my girlfriend, we became pretty good at it so far
Re: Ask HN: How do you relax without drugs/alcohol/sex/exercise?
#14Video games are great for that.
Re: Ask HN: How do you relax without drugs/alcohol/sex/exercise?
#15Excellent steam room in a gym. Sometimes I just go there to relax. Luckily gym is 5 minutes away from home.
Re: Ask HN: How do you relax without drugs/alcohol/sex/exercise?
#16If I'm really stressed, coding/working on a side-project seems to work well. On normal days listen to music, DJ, an hour or two of Netflix, playing Go on KGS (or vs computer).
Re: Ask HN: How do you relax without drugs/alcohol/sex/exercise?
#17What's the main driver for excluding exercise? Being outside on my own is pretty good in general. Walking or cycling are the defaults, but maybe count as exercise? I've recently started riding a motorbike and spin on some quiet-ish open roads can be pretty rewarding...
Tough to do/enjoy when there’s snow on the ground and a wind chill of 5F. Not all of us live in sunny California.
Gym membership? That's what I do, and I try to bike the ~1 mile to the gym regardless of weather.
Other than that, there are plenty of inside options for that, like yoga (plenty of yoga series on YouTube), body weight fitness (pushups and whatnot, no equipment needed, though rings and/or pull-up bar are very handy), or aerobics (I count Just Dance games in that category), depending on what you're in to.
Re: Ask HN: How do you relax without drugs/alcohol/sex/exercise?
#18Eh, I have kids, so I don't have time to relax ;)
My favorites recently are:
- reading - video games - programming side projects
Then there's the more productive options (see how bearish I am on my side projects?), like organizing (I'm trying to implement the Konmarie method) or cleaning. I like those things less, but they're still relaxing. Or I'll make something in bulk (yogurt, cheese, boiled eggs), which is also pretty relaxing (little to no mental effort).
I usually just find myself reading, especially just before bedtime.
Re: Ask HN: How do you relax without drugs/alcohol/sex/exercise?
#19I would say that reading+doodling with my remarkable tablet is one of the good things that help me. I also like to play Scrabble alone or play with my kid's LEGOs.
Re: Ask HN: How do you relax without drugs/alcohol/sex/exercise?
#20I prefer silence. I am fortunate to have a couple of hours/day when my spouse and kid and dog our out, and I use that to shut everything off an just enjoy the silence. I am also the most productive during those hours, and I spend my time cleaning / cooking / just sitting down and drinking my coffee while looking out through the window.
sounds great! It is relaxing to read your description as well, which seems like a deep and peaceful state of mind.