How to relax in 5 minutes or less.

Has the Silly Season started for you yet? It feels like in November everyone wants you to do everything and be everywhere. Things get quite stressful and you wish you had some time to relax.

With some days now double or triple booked, I think ‘wouldn’t it be nice to just relax?’ I know I don’t have to say ‘yes’ to all the things (and I don’t). But as the warmer weather rolls around, it’s hard not to get caught up in the vibe.

So I’m trying to fit in little bits of relaxation each day to prevent me reaching the end of the week and crashing with physical and mental exhaustion.

None of these ideas take more than 10 minutes. Sometimes when I take a relaxation break, I do struggle to get back into a work frame of mind. But, more often than not, taking the break gives me the mental boost to get problems solved.

I had about a dozen ideas I was going to pop on here. But I don’t want to stress myself out by typing them all then running out of time to pack your orders. So – change of plan, I’ll write 6 and share some more next week. Nothing like taking my own advice for once!

So, in no particular order of preference, part 1 of 2:

‘Ways to Relax When You Only have a Few Minutes’

1 – Get your head below your heart

Either hang your head and upper body towards your toes or rest your head between your knees. This brings a sense of calm to your head, neck, face and diaphragm. If you practise yoga, you could hang out in downward facing dog for a few minutes.

2 – Lie with your legs up the wall

It’s a restorative yoga pose but you don’t have to be a yogi to do this one. It’s lovely and calming, can lower your heart rate, aids circulation by easing the return of blood back to your heart, gives a lovely stretch to the back of your legs and relieves lower back tension.

It just takes a few minutes. In fact the longest part of this position is manoeuvring yourself into it in the first place! I find it best to sit sideways to the wall, with my right hip as close as possible to the skirting board. Then swing both legs round as I lay my upper body down. If you plan to stay here for more than a couple of minutes, consider a pillow for under your head, and a blanket to keep cosy. I often do it on my bed too – very comfy!

3 – Focused breathing

If lying upside down in the middle of an open plan office would look weird, try some simple, focused breathing. There are heaps of different techniques to use. Who knew breathing was so complicated?! A quick Google search will reveal them.

An easy way to start is to give yourself a minute to simply breathe in deeply through your nose and out through your mouth. You can close your eyes. It’s a good idea to place one hand on your belly so you can feel your tummy push your hand away from you as you inhale and fall back towards you as you breathe out all the old, stale air.

When you breathe like this your brain understands that you are safe and that it’s ok to feel calm and relaxed. After all, if you were being chased by a sabre-toothed tiger (the original way humans experienced stress) you certainly wouldn’t be breathing calmly. It’s a good brain hack to use when you can feel your tension rising. ‘Body, you can go ahead and tell the brain to relax – no tigers here today.’

4 – Meditation

Maybe your brain needs a little more help to relax and switch off. Instead of losing yourself to half an hour of scrolling your social feed (reading blogs like this one is cool of course!), pop a free meditation app onto your phone. They are so user friendly. You can pick the style of track you need, and the length of meditation you want.

When I use these with the kids I know to keep to tracks of 5 minutes or less to maintain their interest. You can get ones that are only a minute long. I find the guided meditation tracks are a great reset for the mind and body. You can also choose to listen to calming music or even sounds of nature if that relaxes you.

TOP TIP – I have been known to fall asleep listening to these. Which might be great at bedtime. But not when you’re supposed to be picking the kids up from school for a dentist appointment. So set your phone alarm just in case!

Insight Timer is the app I like to use.

5 – Roll a golf ball under each foot for a couple of minutes.

This is lovely to massage and stretch the bottom of your feet if they’re feeling a bit tired and sore. It awakens your plantar fascia and can provide you with an energy shift too. It also helps you feel more grounded. I am known to keep a golf ball in my bag (I’m a rucksack rather than a handbag kind of girl) and whip it out at any occasion. If you don’t have a golf ball, just give your feet a quick rub. Or take your shoes off and walk barefoot for a minute.

Bonus points if you can find different surfaces, like grass or something uneven like cobbles, shells or stones. This gives your brain some more interesting proprioceptive information than the usual high heel or training shoe provides. Which is great for taking your mind off things. Especially when you find the pointy stone!

6 – Quick magnesium boost

Still on the subject of feet. Did you know they are the best place to apply your magnesium oil spray? This tip takes only 15 seconds! Though feel free to spend a little longer giving yourself a soothing foot massage too, if you have time.

Sometimes mag oil can tingle your skin but we haven’t heard of anyone yet who experiences this on the soles of their feet. Best practice is to get into the habit of doing this every night before bed. We use up so much magnesium when we’re stressed, so it makes sense to keep our levels topped up regularly.

But if you feel your tension rising, there’s nothing stopping you using it in the middle of the day too. If you have niggles in certain areas (yes, my creaky knees, I’m referring to you) and you want some relief, massage your mag oil directly on that area. Just make sure not to apply to broken skin. That is NOT relaxing! Also, do note that magnesium oil is photosensitive. So if you’re going to apply it to eg a stiff neck, make sure that area won’t be exposed to sunlight within the next few hours.

So those are a few of the things that work for me. They take just a few minutes to relax my mind and body and ensure I don’t get wound up tight like a rubber band and ping at the slightest pull. Like just now when Master 12 spilled berry juice on the new bench cushion.

Dionne x

PS – if you have the answer for getting red stains out of fabric, please let me know!

PPS – I’ll write the next few from my list when I’ve got time to know it won’t stress me out!

PPPS – Do try these. And share them with anyone you know who needs a wee reminder to take a few minutes to themselves.