In the twenty first century, it can be challenging to find the time to take a break from our busy and stressful lives. We often feel like we are on the go twenty four seven with very little space for personal or relaxing pursuits. You might have a stressful job with an overbearing boss setting unrealistic targets that you spend all hours God sends trying to meet. This can lead to burnout, high blood pressure and poor mental health. You go from living to barely existing.
Something needs to change. Although social media, interconnectivity and tech has enabled the world to appear smaller, this is not necessarily a positive thing. We have been made to feel inferior through heavily filtered fake aspirational images on Instagram, bullying over Twitter and self esteem sapping selfies online. It’s important that you can take a break from your work life and social media. Put down the smartphone, step away from the screen and banish your tablet for a little while to give yourself a detox. This, in itself, will arm you with more hours in the day to spend on more worthwhile real life pursuits.
Take a look at these simple ways that you can manage the art of escapism to help you relax, take a load off and redress your work life balance.
Do Something New
When you do have a spare evening, consider doing something new with your time. Perhaps you have always fancied learning a new language. Maybe you want to pursue your newfound love of baking. Or perhaps, something more active is your new hobby of choice such as soccer, fencing or archery. Locate a local club or group, sign up, and give these new passions a go. Escaping your stressful reality through new pursuits can give you a new lease of life and something to look forward to during the week.
Having a new outlet can also enable you to extend your social circle and make new friends. This could result in further social gatherings and a more fulfilling social life rather than spending one hundred per cent of your time worrying about work. You might find yourself heading to the movies with your new pals, or venturing to the bingo hall for a bit of a giggle, sharing tips and hints on how to win the jackpot.
Relax
Relaxing is a difficult thing to do. It is not purely a physical feeling. Your mental state also needs to be calm and tranquil to help you banish the stress from your life. For many people, learning to relax is the ultimate form of escapism. You could head to a spa and partake in the most calming pursuits. Perhaps your neck is stiff and you struggle to sleep at night. A reiki head massage can be perfect to help loosen your muscles and prevent you from having sleepless nights. You can rest your weary bones on your pillow and have an unbroken night sleep once again. This can help you to feel more refreshed when you get up in the morning and feel more prepared to tackle the challenges you face on a daily basis head on.
Relaxing also means taking those moments to help you to escape from reality. You might want to go to the cinema to take in a film. These two hour nuggets are perfect to help transport you to a sci-fi world full of intergalactic battles and alien civilizations. Or perhaps you adore romcoms and the idea of falling in love at first sight could be the ultimate escapism. Or maybe gritty crime dramas help you to forget about your stress.
Get Active
In the twenty first century, it’s all too easy to become sedentary. With our busy lives, we have less time to get outdoors especially if we have a job that means that we need to sit at a desk all day. However, it is vital that you can get outside at least once or twice during the day. You need breaks to help you to recharge your batteries, and the most effective way to do this is to soak in some natural light. The boost in Vitamin D is a great mood lifter and helps to regulate your body clock. This can help you to get a better night sleep and can see your blood pressure decreasing.
If you are finding that your sedentary lifestyle is having an impact on your physical health, you need to get active. Partaking in exercise helps release endorphins into your bloodstream giving you a sense of euphoria. At the same time, you’ll be burning calories and losing weight and toning up. This doesn’t mean that you have to train for a marathon or go for long bike rides. Instead, you could venture to your local gym to enjoy some of their beginners classes and go at your own pace on the machines. An uphill hike on a treadmill can be just as beneficial as a ten minute sprint.
Detox
You might think that social media is the ultimate escapism. You forget about your stressful job to look at funny cat videos and comedy bloopers instead. However, this isn’t real life. While it can give you a giggle for two minutes, you will struggle to find any long term satisfaction from it. You need to ensure that you banish the social media feeds in the evenings at least. Use this time to reconnect with real life friends, head out, socialize and have meaningful conversations. You will find these interactions so much more worthwhile than leaving a meaningless and unread comment under some stranger’s selfie on an idyllic beach.
Detoxing from social media can have a huge benefit on your life and your mental well being. While it can be difficult to go cold turkey, you will soon feel the rejuvenating effects of such a detox.
Follow this guide and try your hand at escaping from your stressful life and master the art of relaxation to revolutionize your existence.
