Between work and family life, I have very little time to relax. But when I do get the time, I like to play guitar, ride my bike or listen to music.

I used to relax by drinking beer while I cooked, but no more beer. :(

This is a great post! I LOVE spa days with my friends but I am on a budget too so that is a once a year splurge. Here are things I do that are much less expensive:

*Hang out with my husband
*Hang out with friends
*Give myself a pedicure
*Take a bubble bath
*Go for a walk (except this past winter when it was always 9 degree's outside...)
*Watch my favorite shows on TV, or a favorite movie (think snowy winter day, on couch with blanket, hot coffee and great movie...)
*Work on my counted cross stitch (although this is getting harder as I get older because I can't see the holes any more! YIKES!)
*Listen to relaxing music
*Go for a drive

Take care

I'm afraid mine's not so positive: I smoke cannabis. Between work and socialising (which I find stressful!) I don't have much time, and I've found nothing else that fits in has anywhere near the same impact...other than drinking, which with my medication would be worse!

I remember feeling exhausted all the time from anxiety, so I got mad, I mean, really pissed, and decided to get control. I sat down and started writing down things I could when I'm feeling it building up. Had to try multiple things, till I found what worked best.

The key is to find things that will completely refocus your brain. You'll know it works, when you suddenly realize, that your not feeling anxious, or as anxious, as you had been.

I always have a jigsaw puzzle going.
Word puzzle books
Cross Stitch (Luckyempath - my 55 yr old eyes wreak havoc on those little holes too.)
Crochet and knitting
Video or computer games work great too

well--this is part of my anxiety too--but I like to clean---it soothes me
I also like to read and watch movies and tv shows on my roku
I like to surf the internet
I like to play with my cats
I like to meditate and sometimes do yoga (hard to start the yoga...but I love it when I get going!)
I love spa days too--and will go pay for a massage
I like shopping for anything but groceries
just puttering around the house makes me happy....
I just discovered the meditative qualities of a jigsaw....
I like to projects in my house...
hang out with my pals (sometimes)

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this post.
I know all too well how anxiety steals your life.....but just step outside your head and do something else to distract your thoughts.....especially something to soothe the beast and relieve stress. Fantabulous!

I love my music. Youtube is wonderful to summons up some oldies that I haven't heard in ions. I also love comedy.....again....youtube provides that which allows my endorphin's to run wild :P
I use to be artistic, but have been in a slump for several years. I love to draw and sculpt. I'm happy to say I actually drew with chalk a few weeks ago.....it felt really good. Need to get back in the saddle.

Then there is my old stand by distraction......TV. Love comedy and a good Who-dun-it. I'm not into reality shows.....I live one :P

I'll be watching this thread as I need to expand my horizons.

I listen to music, Hot Shower with lite music, but what I find that works the best, is coloring with crayons. My youngest is 15 years old and I'm a grandma... but nothing is more relaxing, don't have to think to hard, stay in the lines and block out the world :-)
Coloring books at $1.00 store... cheap fun

These are such great ideas. I haven't done a jigsaw for years, but I remember how soothing that can be. Reminds me of vacations at the lake where my family used to go.

@Missymissjen, I have heard that coloring is very therapeutic and they even make adult coloring pages now. The designs are more complex and abstract and I think you might even be able to print them off online. I have an 11 year-old cousin who loves to do art projects with me. I've always found it very soothing just to hang out with her and doodle.

I agree about the jigsaw puzzels and coloring (I use to have one of those adult abstract coloring books.....don't know where it went).

I do have a few games on my phone.....haven't played them in awhile as I'm busy with a few new business ventures. They are good when waiting for an appointment at a doctors office or like the other day...at the SS office (3 hour wait).

I am very excited about Spring as I've been planning my veggie and flower gardens. I've got some great ideas and can't wait to implement them into my yard. I love digging in the dirt.....it's so therapeutic or what I like to call, "anger management." I also get my Vitamin D.
Planning, planting, and weeding gardens can be time consuming and that is a good thing as it get's your mind off stress as well as a good workout and a feeling of accomplishment :)

I also agree about puzzles and crosswords. Love them. In fact I love them so much I found a game app called Word jigsaw for my phone that combines them both! Love it! Keeps me busy for hours! Hmmm...that may be a little sad...

I also love to work in my gardens. Love pruning plants and...pulling weeds. Yup. I said it. I LOVE to weed my garden. It's so soothing.

CindysRain - I tried knitting once. It was so funny. I pulled the stitches so tight my 'scarf' was more like a pencil cozy..lol! Cross stitch was a much better option for me.

LOL @ LE's reply :P
I use to have a word search app on my phone, but I think I'd like the jigsaw one instead. Thanks for the info LE....

I LOVE this post!

Meditation and cooking a big meal for my family. They are both therapeutic.

I wish DS allowed us to keep a couple of the ongoing topics at the top of the forum, so they wouldn't disappear.

You all gave me some new ideas to try. Pogo.com is a fun game site. It has all kinds of games to keep our brains occupied, including word searches and jigsaw puzzles. It is free or you can by a membership.

My current jigsaw is 2 beautiful wolves, standing by a stream. Very, very difficult one, but I like the puzzles that take me a while to finish.

I hope others will chime in and give even more ideas.

Well, let's just keep this thread going then. :) I like to work in the yard, too, but I'm not much of a green thumb. I just know it feels good to clean up the flower beds and plant some things and pull up all the weeds. It's very cleansing.

CindysRain and LuckyEmpath, I've done a little knitting and crocheting myself and I find it relaxing until I mess up and then it's super-stressful. Ha ha! I think you have to get really good before it becomes a way to unwind and I haven't gotten there yet. :)

Some other things I like to do:

Sketching with charcoal
Baking
Reading
Browsing Pinterest- I don't get on there much, but when I do, I enjoy scrolling through and just looking at the pictures.

I love sketching with charcoal too.....just did a landscape a few weeks ago. I had forgotten how relaxing it was.

I'm seriously thinking about roller skating again. I had some bad foot issues a few years back that seem to be under control now......so hopefully in the Fall, I can get back to it. I will have to work my way back to what I use to be (I did dance skating) and will have to keep in mind I'm not 29 any more...lol.
Skating was sooo much fun and a great way to exercise :)