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Ask HN: What do you do to blow off steam?

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21–30 of 77 posts

Re: Ask HN: What do you do to blow off steam?

#21
Intense exercise early in the day, before doing anything "real": Reduces the boiling point.

Playing music later in the day or when stuck. Electric guitar 12 bar power chord blues with amp set on raunch or viola aiming for tones of delicate beauty, depending on mood.

Re: Ask HN: What do you do to blow off steam?

#22
post #18

I sleep. Its going to sound really weird but over the years i have constructed this alternate reality. A whole universe over the years i have built up in my mind, and whenever i am angry, or depressed, i lie down on a bed, pretend i am in this alternate reality and it helps me relax and slip into a peaceful slumber :)

And one day you 'wake up' in that reality and struggle to remember if this reality was in fact the dream all along? :) (in fairness I find it entirely possible to wake up and spend a few moments weeding out the real from a dream)

I just had this dream where I was up in Syracuse and trying to catch this bus and things kept going wrong and when I finally got on the bus I argued with the driver and said I shouldn't have to pay and he kicked me off and then when I got on the next one it went to the wrong place.

In the middle of all this I was waking up and falling back asleep so I knew it was a dream and then I saw my kid running and thought I had to chase after him and some women said, "Just go do what you want" and instead of chasing after him I went and did what I wanted.

Re: Ask HN: What do you do to blow off steam?

#23
post #4

At the risk of painting myself in a negative light: I drink. I go out with friends, throw back some tasty cocktails/beer/Scotch/wine, and vent about my day/week/whatever. Depending on my mood, I'll either be one-on-one/two/three with a few close friends and lay it all out, or go out with a larger group and just use the alcohol to take my mind off things. Healthy? Jury's still out. Effective? Yup.

I guess many might like to portray their lifestyle as exercising regularly, having deep and intellectual conversations while socializing (without alcohol, because it's a social lubricant), learning foreign languages, and snacking on carrots and brocolli with yogurt dip when they want to treat themselves.

...but I think most people would consider your lifestyle to be quite reasonable and balanced. :)

Re: Ask HN: What do you do to blow off steam?

#26
post #2

I lift weights. Used to listen to Death Metal. But mostly, I've learned that it's not really necessary. Just makes us feel powerful, recently started meditating with teh Headspace app and that works a lot better.

What is "unneccessary" about death metal? Fine if you don't like it any more, but I don't think there is anything wrong with listening to it. I can listen to music like that as background music, to get pumped up, and sometimes even when I'm trying to sleep.

But then again, I'm not the kind of person who adjusts my playlists according to my mood (sad, energized, happy, melancholic, ...).

Re: Ask HN: What do you do to blow off steam?

#28

Ride road bike for at least 3 - 4 hours at moderate to just below time trial pace. This will exhaust you, normalize your hormones, improve your mood (high from endorphins), reduce your stress, and reduce your aggression levels (adrenalin) etc. Eat to recover and feel great for at least couple of days. This is also better than indoor exercise because of the long sun and fresh air exposure. I have been doing this (cycl…

+1 for going for a bike ride. It'd be nice to be able to go running, but it just doesn't do it for me. It's boring. On a bike, you're slightly removed from the world - going through it, but not plodding along connected to it. Also, you can go somewhere. It's not hard to do 50/60 k in a few hours, which means you can vary your route a lot more than running.
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