How to Decompress and Improve your Mental Health
As with most of us, we tend to run and hurry from place to place to meet our schedules even with lots of workloads and forget to decompress. At times all we need is to decompress. Perhaps it is time to unwind, chill and relax a bit, but the work schedule doesn’t allow that.
However, you don’t have to worry as you can unwind through other methods. All you need is to spare time and chill out once in a while for your health and happiness’ sake. Exercising, relaxing, and getting adequate rest are crucial factors to a joyous life.
In this article, we’ll explore tips on how you can decompress and improve your mental health.
Learn to Wind Down and Take Time Off
Do you find it hard to wind down or take time off during the day? Worry not; following these four ideas can help you decompress.
Transitioning from a busy day
You need to exercise, meditate, stretch, or take a nap or short walk after work to relieve stress. The activities that you choose will offer transition options, which help wind down and take time off.
Regardless of the transition routine you opt for, it will always tell you the busy day is over, and it’s time to take off and wind down.
Don’t get hooked on social media or in front of screens
It would be best to shun social media and entertainment areas because they fire off dopamine levels in the brain, increasing anxiety. And increased anxiety levels will prevent you from winding down and taking off work stress.
Instead of watching or visiting a movie theatre, do a hobby, engage in talks with a friend, or read a book. Most importantly, keep off from screens an hour before bed.
Have a gratitude practice
You will have to write all that you have learned, accomplished, or what is pleasing at the end of the day. Also, write about what you will do tomorrow. Both of these will help free up your mind, hence relaxation.
Use your home environment to wind down
In your house or room, play calming and soothing music, light candles, dim lights, and lower temperatures before bed. Ensure your room is dark before you go to sleep.
And before falling asleep, generate gratitude and speak to yourself that the day is over, you’ve done your best, and all is well with you.
Tips to Decompress After a Long Week
Some of the tips you can use to decompress after a long week include:
Take a long, warm shower. A warm bath can help distract your mind from stress, relax your muscles. The warmth and steam exfoliation in the pores soothe stiff muscles, relieve anxiety and tension. Also, a warm bath can help fall asleep faster.
Put on comfy clothes. This helps decompress by freeing up the body from uncomfortable or tight workwear. Comfortable clothes, like sweatpants or t-shirts, allow you to relax quickly.
Distract yourself from stress. The best way to decompress and relax is by doing what makes you happy. The best ways to distract yourself from stress include engaging in art and craft, listening to music, reading a storybook, exercising, or watching funny videos.
Another tip to decompress is by turning off the tech. Turn off your phone and keep it in another room. The emails, Facebook, and Instagram notifications can wait for some other time. With this, you will create time to focus on yourself and not the entire world.
Tea is another tactic to decompress since it has specific relaxation characteristics. Interestingly, they say the act of powering on the kettle is relaxing.
Also, you can decompress by setting the mood. With this, you need to create time and space for yourself in a place with dim light and lovely smells. Noteworthy, aromatherapy oils may help reduce stress, calm the nervous system, and provide better sleep for a restful night.
Read More: CBD and Sleep
No Office Hours During the Weekend
During the weekend, you should distance yourself from all office chores unless it is an emergency. A weekend should be your time to spend some more hours in your bed, visit the zoo, go swimming or take your family shopping or a road trip.
Getting hooked to your office during the weekend will have you suffer from work-related stress emanating family-loneliness. In turn, this could result in higher risks of substance abuse, compromised health, hypertension, among other health-related ailments.
Map out the coming week plans on Friday to avoid spending most weekend hours in the office. Also, this will ensure you don’t get overwhelmed when ushering in the new week.
Decompress by Reading a Book
Even though some scoff at the idea of reading a book, others still find it helpful since it provides an escape. Books feature new circumstances, words, and characters that one can fall in love with, hence helping decompress.
Besides, books merge charming prose(s) with eccentric ideas that turn into a story capable of distracting an individual from a busy life.
Although it may take time to find a book that suits you, that shouldn’t be a worry since today, more and more reading materials of all ages are available all over the internet. Similar to books, they help relieve stress and entice relaxation.
Sit and Meditate
Noteworthy, meditation calms stress levels, improves focus and concentration, relaxes the mind, and encourages meaningful connections with those near you. You don’t have to be trained on how to meditate.
Just sit in a quiet place, close the eyes, relax, and focus on your breath. Might you find this not feasible due to interruption, try CBD products. Taking CBD may positively impact the endocannabinoid receptors, which provides optimum relaxation.
Moreover, CBD has anxiolytic properties that may help reduce anxiety levels and provide calming and soothing feelings while meditating. CBD elevates mood, resulting in improved focus and awareness, hence assisting the user in stay alert.
With that said, CBD use enhances the meditation experience and can be an integral part of daily self-care routine that can help the user feel comfortable. CBD infusions ease stress, tension, aches, and pains, allowing the body and mind to relax enough.
Read More: CBD 101: Everything You Need to Know
Take a Walk
Taking a nature walk is another most incredible way of decompressing after a long week since the walk offers an escape from the hustle to bustle the busy life. Besides, walking boosts creativity, immunity, energy as well as burning calories. In turn, this helps the body rest, relax, and recharge. As you walk, focus on what the outside world has to offer.
Furthermore, walking burns excess fats and calories for the optimal functioning of the body processes. Walking is a physical exercise that can help the body release endorphins, which improves moods, making one feel better.
Call Friends and Family to improve your mental health
Engaging in a conversation with supportive people like friends or family helps improve mental health. You can share childhood memories with your peers, as this could raise relaxation.
Furthermore, you can visit your loved ones if they live in a distant place. All these activities will help you practice self-compassion, acceptance, mindfulness, and curiosity as you’ll be paying attention to the current moment and the action to take after that.
Final Thoughts
After a long week, all you need is to decompress. Decompression is an obvious way to resolve the weeks’ exhaustion or give yourself time to rest and a way to improve your mental health.
Most importantly, distance yourself from the office during the weekend to improve your physical and mental health. Establish work and leisure boundaries to have you get the much-needed time you deserve over the weekend.
With that said, the above ideas will help wind down successfully and take off at the end of the day. Rest assured, you’ll be fully energized the following day.
Decompressing FAQs
How do you relax and unwind after work?
After ending your workday, you can decompress your mind and body by; taking a warm shower, wearing comfortable clothes, and relaxing and beyond that, distancing yourself from watching movies, taking a walk, eating healthily, and going to bed on time.
What happens if I don’t decompress regularly?
If you don’t decompress regularly, you’re at risk of suffering from decompression sickness, best known as caisson diseases or bends, that emanate from increased pressure in the body. Some of the signs of decompression include; tremors, muscle weakness, blotchy skin rashes, and confusion.
How do I decompress from a stressful day?
After a stressful day, taking walks, deep breathing, self-massage, exercising, taking a day off, mediation, reading a storybook, sex, taking a warm shower or nap, engaging in talking with friends or family, listening to calming music will help you decompress.
How can I instantly calm my mind to improve my mental health?
These techniques can help calm your mind instantly whenever you’re overwhelmed by thoughts. Some tips can include: — massages, giving your body proprioceptive input by pushing your palms together, closing your eyes to combat stress, stretching to release tension, stabilizing yourself with a five-wall push, and more.
