Last week, we touched on a few activities that you can do to beat the lockdown blues. Remember, even though the Government has relaxed the lockdown per se, it is still advisable to be at home as much as possible and Work From Home (WFH) if your office allows that. Even if you WFH, you cannot do it all the time and there will be plenty of time for you to engage in other passions.
Last week, we focused on gardening with a particular emphasis on indoor plants that can bring the outdoors in and also on reading, especially travel books that let you go around the world without a passport or a plane ride. This time, we will focus on a few other activities.
Reading
Reading in a broader sense is obviously an extension of that theme. Reading fiction helps you to relax, as you get caught up in the plot and imagine the whole novel in your mind. It is even better than watching movies. The good thing about fiction, especially thrillers, is that you can leave your brain at the door. But if you want ‘brain food’ as it were, take your pick from books on history, famous people (biography) memoirs, war and conflict. They do tax the brain, but you learn a lot in the end.
Again, if you cannot go to a physical bookstore, there are plenty of books you can download (sometimes free) from the Internet. As for me, during the past few days I read Bob Woodward’s (Associate Editor, Washington Post) fascinating trio of books on the Donald Trump administration – Rage, Fear and Peril. Biographies and autobiographies can be equally fascinating - Richard Branson’s Losing My Virginity and Hillary Clinton’s Living History are two books well worth tracking down and reading physically or digitally.
One other activity that helps you to relax and ‘travel’ to far-off places is painting or drawing. Don’t worry if you have never used a paint brush before in your life. Everyone can paint, though everyone cannot be Da Vinci. But what matters here is relaxation. There are plenty of free art classes on the Internet which are rather easy to follow. The only downside is that you have to go to an art shop in person, but once you get all the equipment (paper or canvas, drawing pencils and colours), there is nothing more to worry about.
For novices, landscapes are an easy starting point. For starters, you can paint that houseplant you just bought or even the view out of your window. Ideally, landscapes are best painted on site, but that may not be a good idea these days with some travel restrictions in place. Instead, let your mind travel. Recollect a place that you travelled to or even look at a photograph. Either way, you should be able to do a good painting. It does not even have to be limited to places here on Earth – you can imagine alien landscapes and let the brushstrokes do the rest.
But there is an easier way to get into painting without all the mess and even the expense. That is through adult colouring books. If you thought colouring books are only for children, think again. It is a multi-million dollar industry that caters to a vast segment of people worldwide who are keen to de-stress. You can buy the books from local bookstores or order them online (let the postman or courier deliver it to you). Then all you have to do is buy some crayons in a multitude of colours.
With colouring books, you can let your imagination run free – you can paint the sun blue and trees orange, if you like. While Mandalas are the main theme in colouring books, you can select from animals, landscapes and plenty of other themes. Some will include an illustration of how your finished painting should look like, but you are free to ignore it and let your fingers run riot.
It has also been shown that colouring before bedtime helps to sleep soundly. One other factor is that colouring activates and stimulates both sides of the brain. You can also paint along with your children (or nieces and nephews) to make it a fun family activity with a purpose. People who regularly do this say it is almost meditative.
That brings us to the next method of relaxation – meditation. While meditation has Eastern origins, the entire world has embraced the concept today. Buddhists are familiar with the concept of Bhavana (meditation), of which there are several types. But meditation does not necessarily have to be religious. There are many meditation programmes and apps on the Internet, both religious and non-religious. Even closing your eyes for 10 minutes and listening to the sound of a bubbling brook can amount to a sort of meditation. What matters is that you focus your mind on one thing while you meditate.
Music
Music is another way to wind down and de-stress as you are confined to the immediate environs of your home. If you like a particular kind of music, go for it but it is worth investing in a good pair of headphones (such a pair can come in handy for meditation as well). But thanks to the Internet, you can experiment on a wide variety of music.
If your mainstay is pop, why not discover the wonders of classical music? Classical music is the ideal way to let the stress out of your system. Just try listening to Beethoven or Mozart, conjured up by a world class conductor and your view of music will never be the same again.
Jazz is another great alternative. Radio is a wonderful way to discover music from around the world – try Radio Garden, which brings thousands of radio stations to your tablet or smartphone. Finally, streaming is rather easy but if you really love music try the physical formats too. The very act of placing the needle on a LP or slotting in a CD has a calming effect. As this article has shown there are more ways than one to relax and de-stress.