Stuff to remember later.
Jul. 17th, 2006 11:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wakeiseiyoIgnore all this, if you want. :)
Suggestions for Solo Pleasures
-- 11/8/2005
When it’s time for some solo pleasure, try these suggestions.
Spa
One of the fastest-growing segments of the beauty industry is the day spa, with facials, massages, and other forms of pampering becoming a regular part of the routines of many beauty salons.
Massage
Yield to your need to be kneaded. It feels amazing. And although you may not care while in the midst of having your feet rubbed, research suggests that massage strengthens immunity by helping your body produce more disease-fighting white blood cells, lower blood pressure, reduce stress hormone levels, and improve your mood.
Exercise class
If the very thought of step aerobics makes you groan, consider that there are tons of activities you’ve yet to try, such as Spinning, rock climbing, fencing, freestyle dance, ballet, and the mini-trampoline. You’ll get a great cardiovascular workout in an atmosphere that allows you to be playful and uninhibited.
As a bonus, studies show that 30 minutes of aerobic activity three days a week may be just as effective as medication for relieving symptoms of depression. Moreover, there’s evidence that regular exercise slows our bodies’ responses to the stress that makes us cranky and anxious.
Aromatherapy
Sweeten the atmosphere in your home and office with fresh flowers, gorgeous green plants, potpourri, and aromatherapy sprays, candles, or oils. But don’t just indulge your nose--indulge your other senses, too. By continuously stimulating your five senses, you allow yourself to experience pleasure in entirely new ways.
For example, treat your ears to lush Beethoven symphonies or the lavish waltzes of Johann Strauss. Pamper your eyes with a beautiful poster, calendar, or painting. Treat your tongue to the bite of red pepper or the sweetness of ridiculously expensive, out-of-season fruit. Touch the soft nape of a child’s neck, your dog’s silky coat, or your friend’s or partner’s hand.
Feel. Breathe. Be here now.
==
25 Ways to Raise Your Tranquility Factor
-- 11/8/2005
Start stockpiling serenity by trying one of these 25 tranquility tricks every day and adding more as each becomes habit.
1. Burn incense while you pay your bills.
2. Put a smiley face on notes to yourself.
3. Take a dance class or go to a karaoke bar with your best friend. Be silly. Don’t care.
4. On busy days, take 5 minutes to walk out the back door of your office building and around to the front.
5. In your top drawer, keep a vacation picture guaranteed to make you smile. Take it out when you need it most.
6. Touch a flower, plant, or tree. Take 1 minute to consider its growth from a little baby seed.
7. Keep the TV off for 24 hours. Fill your evenings with beautiful music rather than the canned laughter of sitcoms.
8. Make a list of 20 things you’re grateful for, like “my cat” or “red toenail polish.”
9. Drink your morning coffee or tea on the back porch and listen to the birds, even if only for 3 minutes.
10. Make a list of 10 things you’d love to do if you had all the time in the world.
11. Do one of the things on that list, in some form, every week.
12. Have lunch with people who make you laugh.
13. Spend 5 minutes totally alone, totally silent. Listen to the wind in the trees.
14. Buy yourself a $5 bouquet of flowers at the grocery store.
15. Shower by candlelight.
16. Finger paint with your kids. Even if they’re teenagers.
17. Instead of watching a sitcom, pop in a wedding, baby, or vacation video. Crunch popcorn. Laugh.
18. Fill a jelly jar with daisies for your desk at work.
19. Play tag.
20. On a warm summer evening, listen for the ice cream truck. When you hear it, watch the neighborhood kids run for it.
21. Have your husband push you on a swing. Lean back and close your eyes.
22. Go to a baseball game and cheer until you get hoarse.
23. Rent a chick flick and commandeer the living room with a girlfriend or two.
24. Jump in a pile of leaves.
25. On a beautiful day, lie on your back in the park. Find pictures in the clouds.
===
6 Ways to Rediscover Your Bliss
-- 11/8/2005
The tips below can help you reconnect with your inner kindergartener--and grant yourself permission to enjoy your own life.
Make a list
Write down everything you’ve ever wanted to do but were too afraid, broke, time-starved, or embarrassed to try. Maybe it’s riding in the front seat of a roller coaster, your hands waving over your head. Galloping on horseback along the shoreline. Water-skiing, snowmobiling, or swimming with the fish off a tropical island. Even just taking a yoga or meditation class to learn whether you have the ability to sit still for 20 minutes.
“Whatever it is, it will require you to let down your defenses and take the plunge,” says Lisa Firestone, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and director of research and education for the Glendon Association in Santa Barbara, California.
The point is, the list gives you a starting place. Maybe roller coasters make you nauseated. So how about hitting an amusement park? You live in Kansas, thousands of miles from any beach. But there are still horses around. Diving makes your ears hurt. So how about snorkeling? The important thing is to identify some key areas in your life that are different from the everyday and that you feel would bring you pleasure.
Revisit your childhood
What did you enjoy doing most when you were a young girl? Whether you loved to hike or tap dance, play the piano or dunk a basketball, chances are you’ll find all of these activities just as pleasurable now as an adult, says Dr. Heitler.
Scan the papers
Open any newspaper, and you’ll find loads of unique and interesting things to do, from plays and lectures to art fairs and dance classes. Start a “pleasure scrapbook” of ideas and commit to trying one each month.
Visit a bookstore
Pay attention to what captures your interest. If you spend most of your time browsing through the gardening section, plan to attend a floral exhibit or start your own garden. If you’re attracted to books on exercise, join a walking, jogging, or cycling club. Perusing the spirituality section? Start your own prayer group. Picking up coffee-table books on photography? Take a class at a local college or university.
Fulfill your fantasy
Assume that money is no object, your boss gave you an extra two weeks’ vacation, and your mom will care for the kids. What would you do? The idea here is not to censor yourself. Whether it’s an Alaskan cruise, a full-body massage, or hiking the Himalayas, write it down.
Then break your fantasy down into steps. For the cruise, for instance, the first step might be to talk to a travel agent and collect some catalogs. It may take you three years to save for it, but in the meantime, you can read books about Alaska, surf the Internet for cruise bargains, and begin putting together your cruise wardrobe. And every time you bag your lunch, walk instead of take a taxi, or watch network television because you’ve nixed the cable, you’ll be clear about what you’re saving for. “The point is to turn your fantasy into a reality,” explains Dr. Resnick.
Question…
Ask yourself, “What’s the last thing my friends and family would ever expect me to do?” Then do it. It doesn’t have to be something that you would want to do on an on-going basis.
===
Suggestions for Solo Pleasures
-- 11/8/2005
When it’s time for some solo pleasure, try these suggestions.
Spa
One of the fastest-growing segments of the beauty industry is the day spa, with facials, massages, and other forms of pampering becoming a regular part of the routines of many beauty salons.
Massage
Yield to your need to be kneaded. It feels amazing. And although you may not care while in the midst of having your feet rubbed, research suggests that massage strengthens immunity by helping your body produce more disease-fighting white blood cells, lower blood pressure, reduce stress hormone levels, and improve your mood.
Exercise class
If the very thought of step aerobics makes you groan, consider that there are tons of activities you’ve yet to try, such as Spinning, rock climbing, fencing, freestyle dance, ballet, and the mini-trampoline. You’ll get a great cardiovascular workout in an atmosphere that allows you to be playful and uninhibited.
As a bonus, studies show that 30 minutes of aerobic activity three days a week may be just as effective as medication for relieving symptoms of depression. Moreover, there’s evidence that regular exercise slows our bodies’ responses to the stress that makes us cranky and anxious.
Aromatherapy
Sweeten the atmosphere in your home and office with fresh flowers, gorgeous green plants, potpourri, and aromatherapy sprays, candles, or oils. But don’t just indulge your nose--indulge your other senses, too. By continuously stimulating your five senses, you allow yourself to experience pleasure in entirely new ways.
For example, treat your ears to lush Beethoven symphonies or the lavish waltzes of Johann Strauss. Pamper your eyes with a beautiful poster, calendar, or painting. Treat your tongue to the bite of red pepper or the sweetness of ridiculously expensive, out-of-season fruit. Touch the soft nape of a child’s neck, your dog’s silky coat, or your friend’s or partner’s hand.
Feel. Breathe. Be here now.
==
25 Ways to Raise Your Tranquility Factor
-- 11/8/2005
Start stockpiling serenity by trying one of these 25 tranquility tricks every day and adding more as each becomes habit.
1. Burn incense while you pay your bills.
2. Put a smiley face on notes to yourself.
3. Take a dance class or go to a karaoke bar with your best friend. Be silly. Don’t care.
4. On busy days, take 5 minutes to walk out the back door of your office building and around to the front.
5. In your top drawer, keep a vacation picture guaranteed to make you smile. Take it out when you need it most.
6. Touch a flower, plant, or tree. Take 1 minute to consider its growth from a little baby seed.
7. Keep the TV off for 24 hours. Fill your evenings with beautiful music rather than the canned laughter of sitcoms.
8. Make a list of 20 things you’re grateful for, like “my cat” or “red toenail polish.”
9. Drink your morning coffee or tea on the back porch and listen to the birds, even if only for 3 minutes.
10. Make a list of 10 things you’d love to do if you had all the time in the world.
11. Do one of the things on that list, in some form, every week.
12. Have lunch with people who make you laugh.
13. Spend 5 minutes totally alone, totally silent. Listen to the wind in the trees.
14. Buy yourself a $5 bouquet of flowers at the grocery store.
15. Shower by candlelight.
16. Finger paint with your kids. Even if they’re teenagers.
17. Instead of watching a sitcom, pop in a wedding, baby, or vacation video. Crunch popcorn. Laugh.
18. Fill a jelly jar with daisies for your desk at work.
19. Play tag.
20. On a warm summer evening, listen for the ice cream truck. When you hear it, watch the neighborhood kids run for it.
21. Have your husband push you on a swing. Lean back and close your eyes.
22. Go to a baseball game and cheer until you get hoarse.
23. Rent a chick flick and commandeer the living room with a girlfriend or two.
24. Jump in a pile of leaves.
25. On a beautiful day, lie on your back in the park. Find pictures in the clouds.
===
6 Ways to Rediscover Your Bliss
-- 11/8/2005
The tips below can help you reconnect with your inner kindergartener--and grant yourself permission to enjoy your own life.
Make a list
Write down everything you’ve ever wanted to do but were too afraid, broke, time-starved, or embarrassed to try. Maybe it’s riding in the front seat of a roller coaster, your hands waving over your head. Galloping on horseback along the shoreline. Water-skiing, snowmobiling, or swimming with the fish off a tropical island. Even just taking a yoga or meditation class to learn whether you have the ability to sit still for 20 minutes.
“Whatever it is, it will require you to let down your defenses and take the plunge,” says Lisa Firestone, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and director of research and education for the Glendon Association in Santa Barbara, California.
The point is, the list gives you a starting place. Maybe roller coasters make you nauseated. So how about hitting an amusement park? You live in Kansas, thousands of miles from any beach. But there are still horses around. Diving makes your ears hurt. So how about snorkeling? The important thing is to identify some key areas in your life that are different from the everyday and that you feel would bring you pleasure.
Revisit your childhood
What did you enjoy doing most when you were a young girl? Whether you loved to hike or tap dance, play the piano or dunk a basketball, chances are you’ll find all of these activities just as pleasurable now as an adult, says Dr. Heitler.
Scan the papers
Open any newspaper, and you’ll find loads of unique and interesting things to do, from plays and lectures to art fairs and dance classes. Start a “pleasure scrapbook” of ideas and commit to trying one each month.
Visit a bookstore
Pay attention to what captures your interest. If you spend most of your time browsing through the gardening section, plan to attend a floral exhibit or start your own garden. If you’re attracted to books on exercise, join a walking, jogging, or cycling club. Perusing the spirituality section? Start your own prayer group. Picking up coffee-table books on photography? Take a class at a local college or university.
Fulfill your fantasy
Assume that money is no object, your boss gave you an extra two weeks’ vacation, and your mom will care for the kids. What would you do? The idea here is not to censor yourself. Whether it’s an Alaskan cruise, a full-body massage, or hiking the Himalayas, write it down.
Then break your fantasy down into steps. For the cruise, for instance, the first step might be to talk to a travel agent and collect some catalogs. It may take you three years to save for it, but in the meantime, you can read books about Alaska, surf the Internet for cruise bargains, and begin putting together your cruise wardrobe. And every time you bag your lunch, walk instead of take a taxi, or watch network television because you’ve nixed the cable, you’ll be clear about what you’re saving for. “The point is to turn your fantasy into a reality,” explains Dr. Resnick.
Question…
Ask yourself, “What’s the last thing my friends and family would ever expect me to do?” Then do it. It doesn’t have to be something that you would want to do on an on-going basis.
===
