My Week of Rest and Relaxation

deep relaxation only !!

Feb 24, 2024

Yesterday marked the first day of my week of pure deep relaxation! After visiting my friend in Southampton for a day, I am now already on the train heading back home but feeling completely relaxed. I have come to realise that resting does not work instantaneously for me. If I feel overwhelmed or burnt out, a day or two of rest does not automatically equate to feeling well rested. Granted, this is biased as I spent the past week recovering from being ill but nonetheless, it is a process and certain mindset I have to equip. The concept of deep work paired with deep relaxation encapsulates this and set my intentions for the coming week. I have an awful habit of trying to maximise my time (e.g. reading lecture notes whilst eating lunch) and have tasks I need to complete constantly ruminating the back of my brain in an endless loop. From this realisation I decided I want to spend my time more intentionally rather than having my attention split between multiple tasks. If I am going to eat, I am going to eat and only eat. Eating with company is even better of course. By doing this I know I can feel less all over the place and more centered. Overall I want to consume/produce less quantity, but also consume/produce more quality.

To support this, I have been trying to listen to less music and podcasts as I do other tasks, with the exception of walking/being with people. The constant stream of noise is just adding to the overstimulation and I disguise it as passively learning and absorbing knowledge.

View of houses out of a window. The sky is cloudy and the window sill is littered with glass bottles, a red clock, a plant and kitchen roll.

Most mornings this past week I have eaten my breakfast whilst intermittently staring out the kitchen window blankly. I have enjoyed letting my thoughts float, in, out, wherever, whenever. Slow mornings are much nicer than rushed and chaotic mornings! I should really remind myself this as I resist rising from the warmth of my bed each day.

Then again, this is all just extrapolations from a random thought during a train journey. I may end up disagreeing with these ramblings by tomorrow.