A little more on a couple things already mentioned: cycling can give you more scenery and access to new views for a given workout compared to running, provided your area is suitable.
Decluttering isn't really blowing off steam, but we started using a better than average app for gamifying, organizing, getting that checkbox satisfaction (Tody is the name). Guessing it still won't be scintillating, but might make it less overwhelming and Sisyphean.
Set up a heavy bag in the basement or garage. Hit it good when things are getting stressful.
dean1484 said:Set up a heavy bag in the basement or garage. Hit it good when things are getting stressful.
Yup, just came to say punching bag. Maybe check out a boxing gym? You can just hit bags and exercise without getting in the ring if you don't want to.
I hate swimming because I'm not good at it. Being not good at swimming can end badly. I never feel more relaxed than when I climb out of the pool after not drowning. It only takes me a few hundred meters.
Punching bag works for me. I mounted a speedball in the garage and go down there after everyone has retired, take off my shirt, and beat the everloving daylights out of it for twenty minutes or so. It's hard to be angry when you're a noodle.
1) Workout more better.
2) Doom, with the volume up. Rip and tear until it is done.
ProDarwin said:1) Workout more better.
2) Doom, with the volume up. Rip and tear until it is done.
The chainsaw is quite satisfying. :-) There is another game where you fly around in a wing suite and you can blow up and destroy just about everything in the large open world. I will get the name for it and post that up. Quite fun with lots of mindless destruction.
My happy headspace is learning. Sign up for
Udemy.
Skillshare.
MasterClass
Coursera.
EdX.
Udacity.
Pluralsight.
Most of them offer free courses you can audit, or pay for them if you want certification. Coursera lets you take classes at Ivy League Universities, Oxford, Cambridge, whatever. Kinda nice to have certification in something from Princeton or Yale.
If I'm sad... cycling.
If I'm happy... cycling.
If I'm angry... punch and kick things (a bag from my garage rafters in my case).
If I'm unsure of what mood I'm in... In the warmer months, I grab the kayak and find a place to chill paddle. In the colder months, I grab snowshoes and try and get lost somewhere.
It's been a pretty foolproof flowchart for the better part of 2 decades for me. I'm the opposite of an introvert, but I do quite enjoy my 'me time'.
I got out of my funk this winter by making a list of 48 items to do on the Molvo and crossing them off one at a time. Some were easy gimmes and others were mini projects in themselves. I did not go into the shop until I had the parts and plan on how I was going to accomplish and finish a task that night.
I think that being focused on one thing and getting that sense of accomplishment has helped a lot this winter.
I have also been doing long walks regardless of temperature while listening to books. I used to be an obsessive reader and find that I can get the same satisfaction from listening to a story. Oddly enough, temperature is not a factor, I tend to come back overheated if anything after a good trek.
Maybe related is I had to give up drinking beer back in early Dec as a gluten-elimination experiment thing and decided to just quit drinking anything.
In reply to golfduke :
When I want to think about things I go for a road ride.
When I don't want to think about anything I go for a mountain bike ride.
Or at least I decided that way when I lived where I could ride to trails from my house.
Another for the punching bag.
Do dry fire exercises with your rifle or pistol. Do them 1/4 speed perfectly and slowly get faster. You'll be amazed at how squeezing a trigger at 1/4 speed will show you what you're doing wrong and help you get better. Snap caps are your friend.
Scream into the void.
Jimmyjax said:What about joining a rec league sports team? That's an easy way to meet people and the competition is pretty low stress in most cases. You can also take up an outdoor hobby like disc golf. It's a pretty welcoming community in my experience and it's a good activity while you wonder around woods, mountains, open areas, or whatever is available where you live. Personally, nothing blows of steam like lifting weights and sitting in the sauna afterwards.
Similar theory here, but different twist. Go to the gym. Pick up heavy things and set them down a few times.
I joke but I go to the gym as much for stress relief as I do fitness. After a hard work out, I'm physically tired but mentally reset.
In my opinion you have to work out hard though (I get that this is different for every person), you have to be completely engaged in the activity to get the benefit. It's probably why I like HIIT brand that shall not be named. Most of the time during those work outs I can barely count to 10 let alone think about anything else.
Also side benefit, you'll be healthier.
Combining suggestions: cycling + yoga + learning/ mastering new skills = get a trials bike?
The game I was thinking of is called Just Cause.
Jesse Ransom said:In reply to golfduke :
When I want to think about things I go for a road ride.
When I don't want to think about anything I go for a mountain bike ride.Or at least I decided that way when I lived where I could ride to trails from my house.
Mine's more like...
If I hate myself I grab the road bike.
If I want to have fun, I grab the mountain bike.
If both, I grab the gravel bike, haha.
BradLTL said:In my opinion you have to work out hard though (I get that this is different for every person), you have to be completely engaged in the activity to get the benefit. It's probably why I like HIIT brand that shall not be named. Most of the time during those work outs I can barely count to 10 let alone think about anything else.
Also side benefit, you'll be healthier.
All of this. When you need chalk to help you count to 10, you're probably pushing yourself enough :). And as much as everyone loves to hate on the brand that shall not be named, the community aspect of it is pretty powerful.
I'm not just saying HIIT though. Proper strength training, bodybuilding, or specific focused training for any athletic activity is likely to push you pretty hard. Just going through the motions like an cardio bunny on the elliptical is not a recipe for success.
This past summer I picked up Disc Golf. I have a small local course just a few minutes from me, so it's nice to be able to get over there and throw some frisbees. I play solo quite a bit, but if needed there are usually people around and most are cool about playing together (or things like playing doubles, which is fun). It's a fairly minimal investment (50 bucks will get you a good set of used discs) and there is lots of content on YouTube if you feel like additional research. I joke saying it's a good way to ruin a walk in the woods, but really I like the physical aspect of it, and it gives me something to do besides just walk.
I mean, okay it took four or five years to get to this photo, but yeah. Meditation in a Snell SA2015.
old school chopping wood
dculberson said:I've been looking for an excuse to go to the Cardinal Shooting Center again and go through 100 12-gauge rounds shooting sport clays. It's a bit of a drive for you but if you're up for it some Sunday let me know.
I'd be up for a GRM outing doing that. Blackwing also has a decent sport clay course but still a drive for Tim.
AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:I hate swimming because I'm not good at it. Being not good at swimming can end badly. I never feel more relaxed than when I climb out of the pool after not drowning. It only takes me a few hundred meters.
I'm at the opposite of one part of that- I love to swim, and am more comfortable in a pool than with almost any other form of exercise (biking is a close second, since I commuted on mine for so long). I've been much happier since I've been able to get back to the pool and swim more- I don't think I've ever gotten out of the pool and felt like it was a waste of time and I'd have been better off doing something else.
Having finally gotten the Bowflex I got essentially for free set up and making use of it a few times a week has been good too- I don't enjoy it as much as swimming, but I know that I need the variety in exercise.
I don't do it any more because the club I was part of kind of evaporated when the university it was affiliated with shut down the gym where we practiced for several years for renovations, but Kendo was an incredibly good way to blow off steam- even when just practicing on my own ( as happened most Fridays since most members were college kids who wanted to be out partying Friday nights and not hitting people with sticks). Hitting things with a bamboo sword and yelling at the top of your lungs is, unsurprisingly, a pretty good way to blow off steam...
eastsideTim said:I mean doing something that, once it's been done, you tend to feel a lot more calm and relaxed.
I'll offer the same here as I did in the thread about finding a bit of happyness and joy for yourself...
I picked up a cheap yet decently regarded Ukulele for Christmas. As musically challenged as I am, this has easily been the best thing I've done for my mental health since going on a low-dosage of Sertraline.
You only need to learn a few easy chords to be able to play all sorts of songs. So there is a lot of up-front instant gratification, in addition to being able dive as deep as you'd like with it.
There's just something about playing it that's both cheerful and soothing, and gives a few moments where the brain can't focus on anything else. On top of that, it's so small that it's unbelievably easy to keep close at hand just to grab and play any time the mood/need strikes to disconnect for a minute (or an hour) and just play.
I am epically bad at shooting clay pigeons. I think I could sit them against a backstop, and I'd still miss them. If the place has a plinking range, I might be up for it, though.
Might have to try the Ukulele idea. I tried learning guitar years ago and just couldn't get it, likely not helped by my lack of coordination. I would hope this would be easier.
Oh yeah, video games - I do enjoy some of them, but they tend to amp me up more than calm me down, no matter the genre. So, they are nice distraction every now and then, just can't meet the objective I'm looking for.
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