From High-Key To Low-Key: 3 Ways To Physically Relax

Whether you're a student with midterms, papers, and finals coming due, a stay-at-home parent with a bundle of children keeping you busy, or are a high-powered business executive with an incredibly tight deadline for your next project, chances are good that only a few weeks into the New Year, you've already broken your resolution to stress less. But just because you feel a lot of stress doesn't mean that you can't take a second or two to relax; after all, if you relax your body, your mind can follow, and make you more ready to start your thesis, project, or proposal. So if you're looking for a few ways to physically relax and start healing both your body and mind, then here's what you need to know.

Take a Listen

One of the latest relaxation fads is ASMR -- autonomous sensory meridian response. Simply put, ASMR is that tingly (but pleasurable) feeling that a sizable portion of the population feels when hearing noises like whispering, brushing, scratching, or even sharper sounds like the sounds of a haircut. While ASMR isn't for everyone, it's incredibly relaxing and incredibly accessible, with hundreds of thousands of videos filled with known ASMR triggers on the internet, waiting for you to take a listen. So sit back, put in your earbuds, and see if a session or two of ASMR is for you.

Take a Pose

You may not have ever entertained the thought of doing it before, but there's a reason that everyone from fitness gurus to physical therapists recommend low-intensity yoga for physical relaxation. Yoga has a very sloped learning curve and can be modified to fit your physical needs and restrictions, should you have any. The best place to start is with a clean, soft surface on the floor – yoga mats are great, but you can make do with a blanket on top of carpet – and some yoga how-to for beginners videos, easily found on sites like YouTube. The slow stretching and deep breathing are incredibly cleansing and relaxing, and can take away aches and pains from chronic stress build up.

Take a Bath

When all else fails, there's not much that's more calming than a nice bath – particularly if that bath equipped with power jets, a temperature control, and an ergonomic seat. Walk-in tubs, which are normally fitted with everything described in the above sentence, are a great way for anyone – young, old, fit, disabled, sensitive, hardy – to sit back and let the benefits of hydrotherapy wash over them. As technology has gotten more advanced, the prices of walk-in tubs have gone down as well, making them more affordable than ever. While a bath in a regular tub can do the trick, the advantages of the walk-in tub are so numerous for physical relaxation that it just might be worth your time to invest in one.


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