Relaxation

Being very quiet or making a lot of noise will help you clear your mind (06/11/2010)
(...) Seek out a corner away from others where you can be perfectly still and quiet. Switch off the fax and your mobile phone. If you’re at home, turn off the washing machine and dryer. (...)

Activities such as camping or praying have a positive impact on your mood (06/11/2010)
(...) Get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in life has a purpose. Food tastes better, the sun feels warmer, and you’ll sleep better than you ever do at home. Having a vision statement can help you cut through meaningless activity, and focus only on those things that will energise you and feed your spirit. (...)

Tell your loved ones every day that you love them (06/11/2010)
(...) ’ She loved those children with the most enormous, awe-inspiring love, the kind that doesn’t die, even after the person has gone. And they loved her back. When I was twenty, I believed in ‘true love’ – a vision made up of a man in a dinner suit who would write sonnets about me in romantic settings, and feed me handmade truffles and champagne. (...)

Building birdbaths or pressing flowers have a relaxing effect on you (06/11/2010)
(...) Simplest of all is a rock with a natural dent in it, or a ceramic or terracotta saucer placed on a stump or ledge out of reach of predators. You will find that once birds have been attracted by the water, they will want to stay and find something to eat. Set up a birdfeeder near the birdbath, and spend a few moments every day just enjoying the sight of the birds darting around and squabbling over titbits; you will automatically smile and feel calmer just watching them. (...)

Collecting things or growing strawberries have great benefits for your mood (06/11/2010)
(...) An ordinary day suddenly becomes ‘the day that you were driving back from dropping the kids at band camp, when you suddenly noticed …’ A collection might even prompt you to take new paths you would never have otherwise taken. After years of collecting first editions of books just for the pleasure of it, my grandfather moved into a business selling antiquarian books and maps – a byway he had not previously considered. ‘Shall I not have intelligence with the earth? Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself?’ asked author Henry David Thoreau over 150 years ago. (...)

Relax like a child that builds tree houses and blows bubbles (06/11/2010)
(...) Tree houses have been used by generations of children, as well as by many famous people. Tarzan of the Apes, the Swiss Family Robinson and Winnie the Pooh all lived in tree houses, but did you know that Winston Churchill built one where he wrote some of his famous speeches, and that Queen Victoria also had one where she used to retreat from the pressures of her duties? If you’ve never had a place for private thoughts when you were growing up, now is the time to do something about it. Even a single board across a low fork in a sturdy tree fits the fond description ‘my tree house’, and it’s remarkable how much clearer and calmer things seem when you’re looking up at the sky through a leafy roof. (...)

Tearing up many strips of newspaper is great for relaxing (06/11/2010)
(...) Let the excess drip back into the bucket, then stick the strips all over the balloon. Smooth out the strips with your hands. After two or three even layers of newspaper strips have been applied, brush over the shape with a little extra glue and leave the piñata to dry overnight. (...)

Play hand shadows with your kids and relax laughing (06/11/2010)
(...) Flowers and honey There are many creative ways of using flowers to add colour and romance to your life besides arranging them in a vase. Not only do flowers look and smell sweet, many taste delightful, too. Apple blossom, elderflowers, honeysuckle, rose petals and lavender are just a few of the flowers that can be used to add flavour and colour to food. (...)

How to relax and feel good making candles at home (06/11/2010)
(...) ) You can also recycle milk cartons and cut away at the end. Melt the wax in the top half of an old double-boiler over simmering water. Melt the stearin in another old, small saucepan, then add to the wax and stir. (...)

Use the links between health and emotions for your own good (06/09/2010)
(...) Set your alarm for ten minutes earlier than your usual wake-up time, then, instead of getting up, meditate for 5 to 10 minutes. This is a perfect time to practise, as there are minimal distractions; it will soon become a pleasant routine that connects you to your day's rhythms, like brushing your teeth. When the alarm goes, hit the snooze button and allow your eyes to gently close. (...)

Plant a tree and allow the earth to energize you (06/09/2010)
(...) As you dig the hole for the sapling and before you smooth the soil back around its base, take a few moments to hold the soil in your hands. Shut your eyes and inhale the dark, rich, earthy smell. Crumble it between your thumb and fingers and let it dribble back on the ground. (...)

Allow children and flowers to free your mind from daily stress (06/09/2010)
(...) Relax - simple pleasures are life's treasures. Daisy Chain clump of daisies or clover patch Pick daisies or clover with stems of at least 4 cm (11/2 in) long. Use the very tip of your thumbnail or a tiny point of a nail file or butter knife to make a narrow slit towards the end of the first stem. (...)

Stay connected to the earth by keeping a worm farm and relax (06/09/2010)
(...) mixture of peat moss, shredded paper, leaf mould, straw or grass clippings soil compost food, e.g. kitchen scraps earthworms shadecloth or hessian Half-fill the container with the bedding material and moisten slightly. (...)

Explore your sensuality and relax with natural cosmetic treatments (06/09/2010)
(...) Snip the end off the vitamin E capsule and squeeze the contents into the mixture. Stir well. Add enough rice flour to form a smooth, firm, workable texture. (...)

Daydreaming is one of the best relaxation techniques (06/09/2010)
(...) Cup your palms over your eyes and visualise your 'third eye'. According to yogic tradition, this is the spot in the centre of your forehead that governs intuition, spiritual insight and imagination. Envisage a resplendent life force - perhaps a beautiful sparkling waterfall, with great plumes of spray rushing up in the air. (...)

Taking walks helps you to relax effectively (06/09/2010)
(...) Seek the new Life is a journey, not a destination, as the saying goes. Rather than focus on where you're going, be mindful of what you see along the way. Next time you take a walk in a familiar area, set yourself the challenge of finding something new and unexpected along the way. (...)

Learning the names of plants and animals relaxes you (06/09/2010)
(...) Giving something its particular name makes the world a fuller, more welcoming place, a place where you feel as though you belong. Potpourri is a lovely traditional way to fill a room with the scent of flowers all year round. It's easy and fun to make your own - the ingredients are readily available from health-food stores and craft shops. (...)

Live more relaxed by keeping positive feelings in your life (06/09/2010)
(...) Seek opportunities to pay compliments, offer praise or give a helping hand every single day. Showing kindness in any circumstance is the greatest compliment you can offer another person. Here are some ideas for creating positive liferipples that recharge your spirit and create new connections between you and your world. (...)

Create a treasure box and make it a gift (06/09/2010)
(...) Listen to a gutter full of leaves and gurgling brown water after a downpour. Lie flat on your back on the grass and watch the clouds overhead: see if you can make out shapes of a lion, a dragon, a letterbox. Turn a stone over with the toe of your shoe and watch the earwigs scuttle away. (...)