BS: 10 Top calming activities

12 Sep 06 - 08:57 AM (#1832580)
Subject: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Raptor

I've been far too stressed out lately and getting sick with it!

I was discussing with a friend what I like to do to calm myself down. And decided that our lists might be helpfull to others.

On my list are the 10 top things, in no peticular order, that I enjoy to calm and balance myself.

1 Floating around a calm lake in my Kayak.
2 Gliding down a river in the canoe
3 Enjoying a beer while watching the football on T.V.
4 Playing guitar in a hamick
5 Listing to the Stones real loud while I sit in the dark
6 yoga
7 Sitting in the sun with a hotchoclate and rasberry shnaps after a hard day of skiing
8 Brushing my dogs fur(he's a sheltie)
9 Walking in the new fallen leaves on a chilly autum day
10 Hand drumming for hours with people who are good enough to keep a driving tribal rythem.


If you want to list more than 10 fill yer boots.

I might add to them as well.

Raptor

---

12 Sep 06 - 09:14 AM (#1832595)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Rapparee

1. Visit places I haven't been to before (no, not jail!).
2. Go to the rifle range and shoot targets, concentrating on accuracy.
3. Fence.
4. Work on family photographs.
5. READ.
6. Play my trumpet or keyboard.
7. Build something fussy out of wood.
8. Putter around the house and/or yard.
9. Shoot archery.
10. Take a hike up in the mountains.

NB: The above list is in no particular order and is not intended to be all-inclusive. The author is not responsible for the activities chosen, and the author specifically states that he or she is not responbible should these activities fall to calm others. The above was done on a closed course by a professional driver; your mileage may vary.

---

12 Sep 06 - 09:16 AM (#1832596)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: freda underhill

1 reading a good book.
2 Going for a long walk
3 listening to soft music, while talking with friends
4 Sitting outside under the trees with a licorice tea and a good book
5 taking a couple ofgmagnesium tablets in the evening (muscle relaxant)
6 singing with friends
7 Going for an even longer walk
8 spending time with the feral cat
9 Watching the blossoming trees in spring
10 soaking in the bath

freda

---

12 Sep 06 - 09:22 AM (#1832600)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: freda underhill

okay, i'll add to the list too..
1. Visit places I haven't been to before (preferably where there's a folk fest!)
2. Going for an even longer walk
3. sewing, embroidery..
4. soaking feet in footbath with lavender oil.
5. wander along King St newtown, or Glebe Pt Rd, checking in at all the second hand book shops
6. do some artwork, while listening to music.
7. gasbagging with friends.
8. art galleries.
9. sort out some spaace in the house - get rid of excess stuff.
10. Take another soak in the bath, with lavender oil.

---

12 Sep 06 - 09:22 AM (#1832601)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Amos

Jumping into the sea
Jumping into a good book
Talking for a long time with a good friend
Walking for miles along the coast
Hugging my wife
Hugging my D35
Talking to a good dog
Riding a horse
Building something
Writing a good book

A

---

12 Sep 06 - 09:46 AM (#1832627)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: GUEST

Read a good book.
dig in my garden
watch the birds in my yard
listen to opera,
cook something that takes a long time to make,
Have a glass of wine and a bowl of black olives,
listen to June Tabor,watch the ocean,
play guitar in the dark,
Sit by a roaring great fire.
Watch my aquarium.

---

12 Sep 06 - 09:48 AM (#1832628)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: GUEST,Jon

Going to bed.
Getting out of the house.

---

12 Sep 06 - 09:50 AM (#1832629)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: GUEST,Mrr

1) be at the beach (of course, gotta get there first...)
2) pat a pet
3) hug a child, preferably a sleeping one
4) sing along with my parents' old records
5) lie in the sun
6) re-read a good book
7) cuddle a baby (gotta find one...)
8) do word puzzles
9) do certain number puzzles
10) lie around pretending to sleep

---

12 Sep 06 - 10:20 AM (#1832652)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Big Al Whittle

thinking dirty thoughts
doing dirty deeds
using dirty language
acting dirty
singing dirty songs
making a nice big calming mug of camomile tea, and then throwing it at someone I don't like

---

12 Sep 06 - 10:46 AM (#1832671)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: mack/misophist

When things were really bad I used to take a 5 pound hammer and destroy a few pieces of scrap wood.

---

12 Sep 06 - 11:03 AM (#1832679)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: kendall

Cruise around in an antique car.
Avoid posts such as Shambles or Old Guy.

---

12 Sep 06 - 11:09 AM (#1832682)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: jeffp

Go sailing
Go fishing
Take a walk around the lake or by the river
Sing!
Play some guitar
Cook something involved
Bake bread (kneading is cathartic)
Share some lovin with the cats
Disappear into a good book
Daydream

---

12 Sep 06 - 11:28 AM (#1832700)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: bobad

Avoid all situations that beget stress.

---

12 Sep 06 - 12:32 PM (#1832752)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Dave (the ancient mariner)

Raptor, It's all in how you perceive the stressors.

It's all a question of mind over matter, you don't mind, and they don't bloody well matter...

Take care mate.

Yours, Aye. Dave

---

12 Sep 06 - 12:34 PM (#1832754)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Ebbie

Trying to avoid stressors, bobad, can be stressful in itself.

For me, getting out by myself calms me almost immediately. I think there are people who instinctively turn to others when in distress and there are others who need people when they are feeling great.

---

12 Sep 06 - 12:53 PM (#1832765)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko

Leave work early
Sit on the deck and watch life on the pond
Enjoy an adult beverage
Chat with the kids
music
movies
read

---

12 Sep 06 - 12:58 PM (#1832767)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: bobad

"Trying to avoid stressors, bobad, can be stressful in itself."

It usually requires a trade off, one has to decide which route to take - the stressor or the trade off.

One mechanism I have used in an unavoidable situation, the death of a beloved pet in this case, was to objectify my grief and use that as a process of self discovery.

---

12 Sep 06 - 01:14 PM (#1832784)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Jerry Rasmussen

Walking is number one for me
Sitting and playing solitaire on my Game Gear
Prayer/contemplation... whatever you want to call it
Writing
Playing music
Listening to music... exactly what varies on my mood (The Stones would never do it for me, although I like them.) Neither would Montavani.
Calling a friend
Cooking
Creating a CD of favorite music to share with friends
Stopping in at the Sitting At The Kitchen Table Thread
Doing something non-intellectual, like watching a DVD of Mystery Science Theater 3000

Is that ten?

Close enough.

Jerry
Doing something

---

12 Sep 06 - 03:03 PM (#1832857)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: GUEST,mr stress

Trouble for me with most of the calming activities mentioned here is that they are rather time-consuming, and most of my stress comes from demands on my time, in other words, from not having the time to take a walk, fish, write, etc. However, I have discovered one sure-fire non-self-destructive instant escape from the normal pressures of life, and that is, to play my harmonica. Within a minute or two, I've forgotten everything else. Trouble is, once I get going, it's hard to stop ...

---

12 Sep 06 - 03:32 PM (#1832868)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: frogprince

Taking a long walk on a beach, or through woods.
Squeezing the right lady.
Petting a friendly critter.
Plopping in an easy chair with a good book.
Sitting by the nearby lake with a good book.
Listening to Anne Hills, Cindy Mangsen, and Priscilla Herdman.
Listening to Bok, Trickett, and Muir.
Listening to Matt Watroba's "Folks Like Us" on Saturdays.
Manning our local art association gallery, and breezing with whoever comes in.

---

12 Sep 06 - 03:52 PM (#1832883)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Skipjack K8

Transcendental Meditation
Lovemaking
Sailing boats without engines
Playing whichever instrument appeals to my mood
Sleeping in late
Exploring creeks in the Essex marshes in a small rowboat
Drinking lots with David Oakley
Driving very fast over the Wolds when the road is clear
Doing up old wooden boats
Planning what I'm going to do with my life

---

12 Sep 06 - 04:56 PM (#1832925)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: katlaughing

Whew! I am glad somebody finaly listed lovemaking!:-)

My Rog taking me for a (car)ride in the country
Twenty minutes or so of Qi Gong
Lovemaking
Reading
Playing the piano
Snuggling with my grandson in preparation for a nap with him (there is SO much joy in his giggles!)
Meditation with candles,incense, and vocalising vowel sounds
Listening to music to suit my mood
Talking and deep breathing with a friend on the phone
Beading (jewelry)

---

12 Sep 06 - 06:03 PM (#1832981)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Little Hawk

So that's what that heavy breathing call was all about!

---

12 Sep 06 - 06:07 PM (#1832989)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: LilyFestre

1. Talking with my husband
2. Kayaking in the evening, just before sundown, on a lake
3. Going for a walk
4. Sitting alone in the church sanctuary
5. Playing my violin
6. Reading
7. Going for a ride
8. Hanging laundry on the line
9. Climbing down the rocks at Beavertail and finding a niche to sit in while the ocean waves are crashing all about

Michelle

---

12 Sep 06 - 08:56 PM (#1833118)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Don Firth

Not an exhaustive list by any means, and not in any particular order. Just as they occurred to me:

1. Practicing Fernando Sor and Mauro Giuliani studies on the guitar.
2. Sitting in the nearby park and watching the antics of the squirrels.
3. As frogprince said, listening to Bok, Trickett, and Muir.
4. Listenng to Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 (and much other music).
5. Laying in a warm bath and gazing at the ceiling.
6. Waking up in the morning as my wife, still half asleep, rolls over, lays her head on my shoulder and puts her arm across my chest.
7. Watching some television:   good dramas, like "Bleak House" or "The Inspector Lynley Mysteries," or well-written, outrageous comedy like "Two and a Half Men," or science programs such as "Nova," especially ones dealing with astronomy and cosmology.   
8. Singing about a half-dozen songs (with or without guitar) just for my own enjoyment, where no one else can hear me (singing for others is a different kind of enjoyable experience).
9. After sending Sam Radding a check for nearly $400.00 to build me a slightly customized GO-GW nylon-string travel guitar, looking at my latest bank statement and seeing that I can well afford to indulge this particular GAS attack (it should be here in about a month).
10. Finishing a nice piece of writing a couple of days before our writers' group meets (which reminds me. . . .)

Don Firth

---

12 Sep 06 - 09:04 PM (#1833123)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: GUEST

1)

---

12 Sep 06 - 09:04 PM (#1833124)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: GUEST

Sorry.

1) Playing memory games.

---

12 Sep 06 - 09:08 PM (#1833126)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Raptor

I forgot

11 Birdwatching
12 Firegazing
13 Monkeyspanking
14 Cooking (after I wash my hands of course)

Raptor

---

13 Sep 06 - 02:20 AM (#1833276)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Thomas the Rhymer

1.) Contemplative Prayer
2.) Creative Physical Labor
3.) Smiling
4.) Encouarging others to speak their minds
5.) Singing well and meaning it
6.) Playing guitar for hours
7.) The lingering 'good night' kiss
8.) Recreational bicycling and walking
9.) Great Books and movies well made of them
10.) Satisfying slumbers
ttr

---

13 Sep 06 - 02:20 AM (#1833278)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: open mike

i once got a card that recommended taking a bath to calm down
when you opened it the character said they had been in the tub
for 3 days!

Pema Chodron's Buddhist meditations always help slow me down.
i think slowing down helps to calm down. i am on the move a lot.

some of her books are thngs like When Everything Falls Apart
and something like letting go of fear, no that is Gerald Jablonski (?)
but she helps you think about looking at everything from a different perspective.

http://www.pemachodron.org/ book is The Places the Scare You.


has no one mentioned ma jong or solitaire or other task that you
can do without much mental effort...computer games...i have
racked up many more hours that i would like to admit..
there i just did admit it...

Tai Chi is great to limber you, improve balance, encourage deep breathing, and basically feel lifted up...

---

13 Sep 06 - 04:04 AM (#1833322)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: JennieG

* listening to the music of Hildegard von Bingen
* sewing
* reading
* being somewhere green and peaceful surrounded by hills
* patting one of the 3 cats who share our home
that will do to start with!

Cheers
JennieG

---

13 Sep 06 - 07:39 AM (#1833402)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: kendall

Mowing the lawn on my ride on mower. It takes about an hour and is very relaxing.

---

13 Sep 06 - 09:09 AM (#1833463)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Raptor

15 Sanding a home made canoe paddle
16 Cutting my grass(riding mower as well)
17 Sitting on the toilet with the weekly Canadian Tire flyer that comes with my newspaper(it's a ritual).

Raptor

---

13 Sep 06 - 09:59 AM (#1833498)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Stilly River Sage

I have a push mower that has a self-propelled lever, but I rarely use it. It is relaxing when I stop mowing!

I love that euphemistic "long 'good night' kiss" line--more subtle but to the point. :)

SRS

---

13 Sep 06 - 10:24 AM (#1833509)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: katlaughing

Me, too, SRS...muhc more subtle.:-)

open mike, I just saw an interview of Pema on PBS. I'd love to go to Nova Scotia to hear her and see the area.

ditto on the Tai Chi, petting of cats, laughter, etc

---

13 Sep 06 - 12:11 PM (#1833578)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Bunnahabhain

Climbing, especially Boulding

That first well earned beer, after a long evening dealing with the beginners.

Hearing Crystals voice. Well, most of the time...

The right kind of music for my mood. Often Bach.

A good book

Cooking

---

13 Sep 06 - 12:11 PM (#1833579)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: leftydee

Aside from:

1) sex
2) walking behind my bird dog
3) archery (lots of zen-like stuff going on with this)
4) listening to music
5) reading
6) slow cooking on the BBQ (with a cold beer, of course)
7) fishin'

I find that cleaning up little chores is a great stress reliever. When you get all the little pestering things behind you, it's a lot easier to deal with the big stressers. So get out there and make a list. The list is important as checking things off as you go is highly theraputic. The list should be all the things you need to, but don't really want to do. Make the phone call you dread, clean the garage, write the thank you note that's overdue, floss the cat's teeth..... only you know what should be done! I promise you that you'll feel very relieved by taking care of a bunch of 10 minute projects.

---

13 Sep 06 - 12:23 PM (#1833593)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Stilly River Sage

I agree about the list, and find that if I am torn in lots of directions by many tasks that this really does bring them all into focus. Washing the dishes can be therapeutic, especially while watching bees in the sage and birds at the feeder just outside the window.

SRS

---

13 Sep 06 - 01:20 PM (#1833638)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: gnu

Work like a dog at whatever is/are at the top of the to-do list for a full day, if not more, and then settle back, knowing that I have accomplished enough until tomorrow. Essentially, that is what my dear, sweet, grey-haired mother taught me when I was a wee lad... do your best and to hell with the rest. (Yes, you can take that either way. Both work.)

---

13 Sep 06 - 01:31 PM (#1833644)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Mr Red

1) songwriting (resting right now!)
2) sex
3) singing
4) sessioning
5) using my own written computer programs (the gestation is NOT calming)
6) watching MotoGP - yes I can fall asleep watching Valentino win yet one more race (I am ashamed to say)
7) watching snooker - soporific or what?
8) finding 4 leaf clovers
9) ceilidh dancing - only a cold can slow me down.
10) re-arranging the relative importances of the above

---

13 Sep 06 - 05:21 PM (#1833821)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T

Sitting in my faourite armchair, stroking my cat, and watching the sheer sensual ecstasy with which she responds, X 10. You just can't be stressed with a cat wriggling with delight on your lap.

Highly therapeutic.

Don T.

---

13 Sep 06 - 06:02 PM (#1833854)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: The Fooles Troupe

From the thread list...

BS: Killing the Brown Bear
BS: 10 Top calming activities

---

14 Sep 06 - 05:27 AM (#1834164)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Skipjack K8

Interesting that it took until contribution no 42 for 'sessioning' to appear. It made me think that sessioning is something I initially loved when I got my musician's wings, it has palled to something to do, to paraphrase Sir jOhn, 'if I can be arsed'.

---

14 Sep 06 - 06:15 AM (#1834190)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull

watching gold fish is calming.

---

14 Sep 06 - 02:23 PM (#1834528)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Bee-dubya-ell

Oh, there are lots of things I find calming, but trying to make a list of ten of them is very stressful.

---

14 Sep 06 - 04:42 PM (#1834651)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: number 6

Try your hardest to stay away from the Mudcat.

You would be amazed how calm it is ... real people you meet when walking down the street who greet you with a "good day" ... constructive conversation with friends, co-workers and family ... jamming with fellow musicians .... taking pictures out in the country ... mingling with people who aren't cynical ... hey, the real world outside this forum can be very theraputic!

sIx

---

15 Sep 06 - 09:11 AM (#1835203)
Subject: RE: BS: 10 Top calming activities
From: Firecat

OK, my top ten ways to chill

1) Reading (preferably something to do with Doctor Who at the moment, but anything is good)
2) Having a long bath
3) Reading in the bath!
4) Listening to music. My favourite chill out piece is probably Tchaikovsky "Scene of the Swans" from Swan Lake, or Hayley Westenra singing "Hine E Hine".
5) Lying still with my eyes closed. Not to be confused with sleeping!
6) Watching TV (if there's anything good on...)
7) Watching DVDs (or just listening to isolated music cues or the Bad Wolf music on the index to the Doctor Who Series One DVDs. Beautiful and very relaxing.)
8) Chatting to friends
9) Sitting and staring out of the window, watching life go by.
10) Sleeping...

And there we have it...

---