Stress and chronic pain are not synonymous, but they can certainly have similar consequences. Allowing yourself to remain in a stressed state for a prolonged period of time can weigh on your emotions, affect your social and professional performance, and generally leave you feeling unhappy. For these reasons, it is every bit as important to address stress as it is to do something about chronic pain.
To be perfectly clear, addressing stress often involves seeking help. If you feel that it’s a consistent or significant problem, there are various forms of therapy that can help you to manage it and turn things around. At the same time however, a lot of stress issues can be at least partially solved by simply finding time to relax. We live in a fast-paced, busy, and competitive world, and for all too many of us relaxation has become a foreign concept.
For this reason, we’re going to look at some easy ways to get a bit more relaxation. Specifically, we’ll look at a few common hobbies that people use to unwind. They’re not cures for stress, and they’ll work better for some than others. But if you feel you could use a little bit of a break from the everyday hustle now and then, some of these activities might serve you well.
- Calligraphy
Many people hear the word “calligraphy” and think of it essentially as fancy handwriting. That’s not entirely accurate, but the practice of calligraphy is about more than simply improving your handwriting. Rather, as one definition put it, the art of calligraphy is “a visual art related to writing.” It involves the use of a broad-tip instrument or brush to form letters and signs in a “harmonious and skillful manner.” Naturally, this takes a little bit of learning! But you’ll find that there’s no shortage of online material (including some very helpful YouTube tutorials) that will teach you the basics. And once you get going, you may just find as many others have before you that calligraphy can be an extremely soothing activity. - Puzzles
Puzzles have actually gotten fairly trendy of late, and it’s not entirely clear why. Some will attribute it to the fact that there are a lot of mobile app-based puzzles that have sparked people’s interest in the real thing (as seems to have happened with board games as well). Others will chalk it up to the pandemic and the need people had to find activities at home throughout 2020. An article put out last year even suggested, with some evidence, that social media was responsible for reviving puzzles. Whatever the case though, a lot of people are putting jigsaw puzzles together these days, and many find the process borderline meditative. So long as you’re not the type to get too frustrated over a gap that’s difficult to fill, it can indeed be a very relaxing activity. - Poker
Poker is a hobby a lot of people associate with high-stakes competition and even professional tournaments. Televised World Series of Poker events show us the very pinnacle of the game as a sort of sport, and many are familiar with table winners raking in massive sums — and amassing fortunes in the tens of millions, according to a rundown of poker’s highest earners. Given all of this, poker can sound a little too competitive to be particularly relaxing. But the actual game as the vast majority of people play it — either for free or with very low stakes — can in fact have a calming influence. Those who enjoy poker often find it to be an absorbing activity. It’s something that draws in your attention and shuts out everything else, allowing you to enjoy the simple mental effort of each hand without worrying about other things. It isn’t for everybody, but if you find it’s for you it can quickly become a go-to relaxing hobby. - Golf
Golf can actually be described in much the same way we just described poker. We tend to associate it largely with televised competition and elite professionals who might make a million dollars or more in a single tournament. It’s a competitive sport at the highest levels, rather than just a relaxing exercise. But for the majority of us, golf can be just the opposite. It’s a slow-paced sport with relatively minor physical demands, but still an activity that demands focus and attention. As with poker, that combination of factors can lead to a centered mind, and a relaxed, soothed state. - Yoga
In exploring the battle against stress in the past, we’ve highlighted the importance of working exercise into your routine. Now, not all exercise is necessarily relaxing, so to some extent it’s important to recognize that battling stress can entail more than just chilling out. But yoga is one activity that very much straddles the line between exercise and relaxation. Many will find that practicing yoga poses for even 10 or 15 minutes a day leads to a relaxed state and ultimately a more peaceful mindset. It’s easy enough to turn this kind of daily practice into a hobby, and perhaps more than anything else on our list, it’s sure to help you relax.
