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Ask HN: How do you relax without drugs/alcohol/sex/exercise?
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Re: Ask HN: How do you relax without drugs/alcohol/sex/exercise?
#2[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: How do you relax without drugs/alcohol/sex/exercise?
#3Read, go for a walk in the forest, draw, meditate [0], anything that's not in front of or near a source of distraction (phone, computer, &c.)
[0] for a lot of people switching off their devices and sitting down quietly for 15 min without knowing anything about meditation will already have effects.
Re: Ask HN: How do you relax without drugs/alcohol/sex/exercise?
#4I 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.
Re: Ask HN: How do you relax without drugs/alcohol/sex/exercise?
#5Soaking in a nice hot bath, reading a book. I draw my bathwater just short of scalding hot, jump in the tub, and sit back and read. Sometimes non-fiction - albeit not generally highly technical material (eg, no "Python Data Analytics" or anything of that nature) - but usually fiction if I just want to "turn my brain off" and relax.
Outside of that, just listening to music. I find it very relaxing to just sit and listen to one of Chopin's nocturnes or something of that ilk.
Re: Ask HN: How do you relax without drugs/alcohol/sex/exercise?
#6Meditation, cooking with my SO, playing video games, reading and napping.
Unexpectedly for me another thing that is becoming relaxing as I grow older is to use my free time to stay on top of my household's chores. Just knowing I wont have the stress of having to rush them latter on because "oh fuck it's Monday morning and I don't have a clean shirt". Still far from perfect at it because procrastination run deep in me, but it's something I'm trying to slowly improve.
Re: Ask HN: How do you relax without drugs/alcohol/sex/exercise?
#7What'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...
Re: Ask HN: How do you relax without drugs/alcohol/sex/exercise?
#8music - have premium version of di.fm.
you took excersize off the options - and I think taking a walk and tai chi fall in that, although some may say that's not the same.
I have found the best thing to help relax is dedicating 5 minutes to write - get stuff off the brain so you can relax and stop stressing it - pen and paper is fine, notepad, whatever. Write notes, jot ideas, a todo list, some mind mapping balloons.. sometimes some rhyming song lyrics to get stress off the brain and engage the heart in a healthy way.
After things are off the brain and into the paper or digital archive I find it's easier to relax in whatever situation is next.. sleep, hanging out with people, a book..
Re: Ask HN: How do you relax without drugs/alcohol/sex/exercise?
#9I read.
I talk to my wife.
I take an interesting online class.
I watch a movie.
I go surfing.
I talk to my parents.
I talk to my friends.
Re: Ask HN: How do you relax without drugs/alcohol/sex/exercise?
#10What'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.