What's your favorite way to relax?

vigorous sex followed by a vigorous swim. never fails.

Personally I love to go the gym around 8pm, then smoke and make food then go to sleep. It gives you some time to not really think about anything else.

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I fly every week.

I've really started to enjoy the flight back on Thursday night. Being able to board the plane first through Sky Priority is really a great perk.

I just put my headphones in and try and listen to a new album or two every flight from beginning to end and use the time to collect my thoughts and reflect. People see business travel as a pain but I try and use the flight home as a few moments of peace where I can just be with my own thoughts. I also enjoy people watching all of the idiots that aren't very good flyers.

breakfast at bed listening to sippy and garfuckel

After studying or finishing an exam, I usually read or play video games to burn off any stress. After I come home on the weekends from work, I usually go to the gym to clear my mind. For me personally, having multiple activities to relax has worked out more than having only one outlet.

Lots of good suggestions in this thread that I would recommend.

However, when I'm truly up with my back against a wall and I need to stop dwelling on stress fast so I can perform, I do meditation.

A great read is "The Inner Game of Tennis" by W. Timothy Gallwey. Deals a lot with how the brain functions mechanically and how the byproduct of unregulated functioning can be useless stress. It also addresses this topic through the lens of a sports trainer, so it's a very anecdotal, short and accessible read, not too heavy on science.

Really, anything that gets your mind off the subject of chewing itself up and self-criticizing is good stress relief, which is why running/vice/reading all work well. But I think meditation, once you're practiced, is a much more direct route that can get you focused fast in a pinch. It also addresses the problem much more directly than running etc. because it teaches you to recognize how you're thinking (as a mechanical process) and how you can intervene in that process to channel it more effectively. In that way, meditation becomes a prophylactic measure against stress whereas running etc. only treat the symptoms of stress.

Massage, even if it's at one of those $1 a minute Chinese places.

Love to go on runs listening to some great music like Eddie Vedder or Explosions in the Sky.

Just got into fly fishing this past year and that's a great way of clearing your head for a few hours. A lot of patience and practice as it is just the river and you.

The gym is my usual go to. Afterwards I always feel much less stressed about pretty much everything going on, and while I'm in the gym I completely forget about things that are causing me stress.

Normally I'll go to workout then watch some sort of documentary or thriller. I usually just try to clear my mind of anything else and at least get some sort of exercise even if it is just fifteen-thirty minutes.

Edging.

Five bong rips and then hitting the hot tub.

Exercise, meditation and reading.

After a break up years back, I started training for a triathlon. The hours I spent running, swimming and biking allowed me to self reflect on the situation. I had some great epiphanies while training: I stopped self loathing, and found a good direction for my life.

The training now has turned into a pseudo therapy session for me. If I ever feel anxious or "out of balance," I'll do a 5 mile beach run or a long swim. Lots of people think exercise is a chore, I find it a good way to rebalance the scale and find some alone time.

I spend a lot of my time composing music. If you learned an instrument as a kid but quit, it's great to try picking it up again. Not to play in any organized group necessarily but just as a creative outlet by yourself. While there's some amount of creativity involved in the fields people on this forum work in, it's very different from true artistic creativity. Definitely utilizes a part of your brain that goes unused for most people.

Long runs and workouts with some ACDC/Megadeth/Metallica playing

sorry I forgot to post this: Ask your mom

Tanning hides of dead animals. Long meticulous and meditative process. Clears the head.

Alternatively, running would probably work.

I pick up heavy things and then put them down.

The greater the stress, the heavier the things.

rub n tizzug

I would go for a walk alone and have a cup of tea to relax myself.

well now that i'm in mexico... can't wait for my first visit to the coast: beach, umbrella, warm water, couple cold beers,

when in the city: massage, gym / pool, long walk in the park w/ a jre podcast

Relax?! You're obviously not alpha enough for WSO.

Shooting Pheasants

To chill:

• Sleep in on a Saturday morning, make coffee, read, watch F1 qualifying.

Something active:

• Canyon carving or a track day on the motorcycle

walk outside and listen to podcasts heavy lifting + sauna massage

After the gym, go home, make dinner. Pour a nice glass of champagne or wine and read math books. No joke. Wow, compared to others, I sound so lame. I'm 25 yrs old with an infant son. This... changed me, quick. When I go a night without learning something new, I go nuts. So I spend my time learning on my free time.

I've come to realize that I love short, fast-paced weekend vacations. Road tripping, switching hotels, scanning for restaurants on tripadvisor. Allows you to maintain a high tempo when you get back to work but with the benefit of lungs full of fresh air, stomach full of nutritious foods and an inspired mind.