In a world where there is increased stress, more pressure to succeed, as well as what seems to be an endless supply of negativity, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed. To combat this, many people try to utilize their homes as a make-shift relaxation center, using it to almost shield themselves from the outside world. Here are some of the best ways to relax at home that can help you mitigate the stress in your life.
Assess How You Want to Relax
People relax in different ways: for some, it’s binge-watching television, or a glass of red wine in a candle-lit bath, while for others, it’s playing video games. Whatever way we do it, one of the main goals for the home is that it needs to be a place where we can relax. Despite all that, some homes are not optimized for relaxation for different reasons. This can range from how they’re decorated to the color scheme used around the house.
Decorate Your Home with Plants
House plants and succulents are becoming more popular in society, and that’s for good reason. Not only do they help brighten up the home, but they also supply different benefits for the inhabitants.
The main one is how it can reduce feelings of stress. Plants clean out the air around you and help remove some of the toxins to make the environment feel fresher. The color of plants also goes a long way to help reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, as our brain associates green with the feeling of calmness and strength. Green is also a relaxing color as it’s the easiest for our eyes to see and register.
Other benefits of having lots of plants in the house also include how it can aid in reducing fatigue and tiredness and how it also has the potential to reduce the number of sore throats and colds. Looking after plants also helps instill discipline and routine, making it a perfect addition for those who are working from home.
Invest in a Bean Bag Chair
For some people, bean bags may seem childish and overrated, but that may be because they haven’t come across a high-quality bean bag. A premium bean bag can be incredibly comfortable, as the hundreds of thousands of Styrofoam balls inside it morph to fit your exact shape, working as a memory foam pillow to give you ultimate support and comfort. Bean bags also don’t have to be garish, as there are many sophisticated varieties that use soft fabrics and fluffy textiles to enhance coziness.
Bean bags are perfect for curling up in and having a quiet moment for yourself specially when placed beside some Christmas twig tree You can chill and watch television or read a book all sung by the fireplace. Whatever way you use it, a good bean bag promises to be one of the most comfortable pieces of furniture you own.
Unplug from Your Devices
A lot of people find themselves using their relaxation time to scroll through their social feeds, catch up on the latest news, or watch stimulating videos on YouTube. This is a big mistake as all these activities at their best can amp us up and excite us, and at their worst, make us miserable and more anxious and stressed.
This is because we are receiving little shots of dopamine whenever someone likes, comments, or shares our posts. This chemical response excites but also tenses us up, making it hard for us to relax. It’s a similar response that people get when gambling or abusing substances and is why so many people fall into social media addiction.
The reason our devices can affect our mood and make us more anxious is simply that there’s a lot of news and events going on that can be upsetting and scary. Engaging with these stories can intensify them and make them feel even worse. It’s advisable to unplug for at least an hour a night if you want to relax, and it’s best to do so just before bedtime as it can help you drift off to sleep easier.
Declutter
A messy and cluttered home can de-rail our standard of relaxation, and that’s because it can make us feel displaced and disorganized, which actually increases our stress levels. Taking time out to have a spring clean and get rid of some of the junk that’s lingering in our lives can really help take a weight off our shoulders and make us feel relaxed. There are so many benefits of reducing the amount of clutter you have at home, such as improving concentration, creativity, and sense of well-being.
It’s for these reasons that’s it really important to make sure your office desk or workstation is free of clutter, as having a messy desk can mean that your quality of work and productivity could suffer as a result. As the saying goes, ‘a messy desk is the sign of a messy mind’.
Get the Right Equipment
There are a lot of products and items you can get for the home which can help you relax. Relaxation goes hand in hand with warmth and comfort, so you want to get stuff that will help you achieve this atmosphere.
Comfortable, fluffy slippers and evening robes will help you achieve an unrivaled level of comfort, and a heating pad or hot water bottle could potentially be the icing on the cake. You could also invest in a thermostat so that you can accurately control your boiler so that it’s always at an optimal temperature.
Stress can also really affect the muscles and make them tense and sore. A good way to combat this and create total relaxation is to invest in handheld massage equipment. Getting a massage gun can be great as it allows you to work on problem areas by yourself, especially as these devices are capable of giving you a seriously deep massage. And, if you have a significant other, don’t be scared to get them to give you a massage every once in a while.
