3 Relaxation Hacks you Probably Aren’t Using- But Should!

Meditation, Cups of Tea, Yoga – no doubt you’re familiar with these relaxation techniques – but are they working for you? These are the relaxation hacks you probably aren’t using and can help you out in less than 5 minutes, even when you’re at work.

*This post was done in collaboration with solitaire.org, but the opinions and ideas are solely from EatDrinkLA.

Grounding

Do you remember the scene in Pretty Woman where Julia Roberts takes Richard Gere to walk barefoot in the park? Well, it turns out that is actually a thing that can totally calm you down. According to Healthline, Grounding, or earthing, is a therapeutic technique involving activities that “ground” or electrically reconnect you to the earth. Studies have shown that anxiety, mood, and even chronic pain can be eased just by spending a little time barefoot outdoors. It has to do with how electrical charges from the earth affect all humans – in the most primal way.

So, whenever you feel disconnected from life and need to come down to earth, just step outside, slide off those shoes, and get a little dirty.

Planking

Planking is an exercise that many people love to hate but can help change your mental state in 30 seconds or less, and you don’t need to be in gym clothes to do it. A Plank is “an isometric core strength exercise that involves maintaining a position similar to a push-up.” While daily planking can seriously improve your abs, it’s also a relaxation hack because it involves disrupting your usual plane of vision, moving from an upright seated or standing to a prone position facing the floor. This also helps if you’re feeling stuck at work and need a change of perspective to solve a problem. When you face the ground and hover your body using only your forearms and toes, you’ll find you need to regulate your breath and tighten your stomach muscles. The more relaxed and focused you are, the easier it will feel. Even just holding this position for 10 seconds is guaranteed to change how you look at things, not to mention give you a nice burst of energy and a sense of accomplishment.

Playing Solitaire

Who knew this 18th-century game could be so relaxing?! I recently used Solitaire.org to help break up some time between projects when I couldn’t pull away from the computer. Solitaire is a relatively simple game where you stack the cards based on sequences and rank, with the order being King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and Ace. The way to win is to transfer all cards from the Table to the Foundation, which stack in four piles from Ace to King, based on suit.

Once you get the hang of the game, it allows you to just get into the rhythm of stacking the cards, and within a few minutes, it’s like you’re in a trance -but still very much aware. The website Solitaire.org has seven different ways to play Solitaire, not to mention dozens of other computer card games. There are no ads, and you don’t even need to supply an email to get started.

I personally like the Classic or Klondike versions when I’m looking to relax and the Pyramid version when I need to use my brain a little more – as addition is involved – but once again, when you get the hang of it, you know which pairs to put together to reach the number 13, so the game gets to be even more zen as you clear your pyramid away to nothing at the end.

What did you think of these relaxation hacks? Worth a try? Leave a comment below with your favorite.