Start to really relax

There is a difference between a weekend and a vacation: a real vacation creates a tangible distance between us and everyday life, a special space of freedom from routine duties. The simplest and most understandable way to increase this distance is to travel to distant countries – and this is what many of us do.

But even thousands of kilometers from home, anxiety does not leave us: how can work, children, parents be there without us? To stop worrying and start to truly relax, you will have to eliminate such powerful stressors from your life as an alarm clock and a mobile phone. Instead, you can tell everyone who needs the phone of the hotel reception – for communication in case of force majeure. In addition to these essential steps, here are five sure-fire ways to get in the “holiday mood.”

Discover the “sweet life”

“Vacation” – from the word “let go”, give yourself freedom, that is, do not what is required, but what you want. The Italians have an expression dolce far niente – “sweet doing nothing”, and it has nothing to do with laziness. According to the ancient Roman philosopher Seneca, life is divided into two parts: negozium, which corresponds to the usual activity designed to provide for our needs, and otium, that is, time devoted to spiritual growth, reading and practicing the arts.

With the end of the era of Antiquity and the spread of Christianity, such a concept as “idleness” acquired a negative connotation. But today we are rediscovering the value of these minutes free from rational activity.

Rest after lunch

Traditional siesta is good for health – scientists and doctors have come to full agreement on this idea. Half an hour or an hour, sleep or just rest – you can choose the form of siesta that you like best.

Even if you suffer from insomnia, divide your day into two parts and make it a rule to spend some time after dinner in a horizontal position, settling somewhere in a quiet corner. Such relaxation sessions, especially in the first days of vacation, will allow you to quickly get rid of stress and, paradoxically, it will be easier to fall asleep in the evening.

Learn relaxation techniques

Resting also means giving your body the opportunity for physical recovery. Long walks are both a sport and a way to literally “get away” from the daily routine, a kind of trick to relieve tension. Walking can be combined with relaxation techniques. In Eastern practices, physical and emotional relaxation is achieved mainly through breath control.

We asked Laura de Maria, a relaxation consultant based in Milan, to share with us a simple and effective technique to quickly turn off the circling of thoughts when we are overwhelmed with stress.

This is a circular breathing technique: inhalation and exhalation should be of equal duration and alternate without pauses. At first, you should slowly count to seven: each inhalation and each exhalation should last seven counts. As your breathing becomes smoother and slower, you can increase the count to 20. This technique also helps those who have difficulty falling asleep.

indulge in contemplation

Let us remember how the rhythmic movement of the waves or the landscape changing outside the train window hypnotize us – it seems that there is no more soothing, pacifying activity than contemplation. To contemplate consciously means to achieve a state of maximum receptivity. To better concentrate, pay attention to the details: the changing line of the surf and the bends of the waves, the grass swaying in the wind, the butterfly fluttering from flower to flower.

Let these details captivate you, pay attention to the light and shadows, to the shades of color, to the texture of the surfaces. Little by little, the immobility of the body will spread to thoughts, neutralizing the restlessness and unrest of the spirit.

Don’t look at the clock

It’s better to stop wearing a watch for a while: to tell yourself “it’s time for dinner” or “it’s time for bed,” it’s not at all necessary to focus on the hands. At least on vacation, you should start listening to the sensations of your own body in order not only to satisfy its needs, but also to enjoy every moment – from a delicious breakfast to a beautiful sunset.

Allow yourself something that you usually don’t do, improvise. Go to the market and buy yourself some flowers or some exotic and perhaps unreasonably expensive fruit. Start reading or re-reading a frivolous novel and let yourself lie in your chair with it all day without thinking about time … Perhaps this will enrich your life with many details that previously went unnoticed.