Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with relax

Stupid Performance Face :\

divabat — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:16:03 -0800

Performers, presenters, actors, dancers, models, all related: How do you get over awkward facial expressions and not look stupid? I've been performing on and off but really only got into it this year. I've learnt a lot and have had many opportunities, but there's still something I need to work on: facial expressions.

I'm ok with being neutral, being defiant/angry, and with silly happy acting-type gestures; however, I'm doing a piece that starts off as being this cheesy Bettie Page "omg damsel in distress" thing and I can't seem to pull it off. I tend to focus more on my outfit/apparatus than on the audience, and my face just looks really really weird.

I've asked around and the main thing I hear is "practice" - is there anything in the specific I should practice on? I find it strange looking at my face in the mirror while performing. How else have you gotten over "urgh I look stupid"?

Healthy ways to get anger and aggression out of my system?

heatherann — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:38:38 -0800

Things have been super-stressful at work. My therapist keeps asking if I have a way to get all this anger and aggression and stress out of my system... and I don't! I usually just rant and get more angry. What are some better ways to get the frustration out? I'm trying to avoid going full-on into burn-out mode, but the stress at work has been high enough and lasted long enough that my fuse is really short and I come home frustrated and irritable. It's disturbing my sleep because I can't seem to relax. I'm working with people at work to change the things that are causing the problems, but that's going to be a long process, and I'm at the end of my rope now.

Rather than ranting at my partner for hours (which just gets me more worked up), how can I get all this adrenaline out of my system? I'm usually a "sit and stew and rant" sort of gal, and that's really not working for me. I need to figure out a way to let myself be angry and actually get the adrenaline out so I can be tired and get some endorphins and maybe even move on and think about other things.

My therapist says he has another client who has an unfinished basement who throws plates at the wall. I live in a condo and I'm pretty sure the neighbours wouldn't be down with that. I thought of learning to shoot guns and going to a shooting range, but there are none in downtown Toronto, so it wouldn't be an accessible "had a bad day at work" kind of thing. I don't usually play sports, and don't have a gym membership, but would be open to those suggestions. But I would probably be more open to non-sports options, if I could only think of any. Let's be inventive!

And before we diagnose me, yes, I have anxiety and depression (and perfectionism and INTJ-ness and first-child-syndrome, etc), and my psychiatrist is fabulous and my meds are good. I just need to get the anger and frustration out of my system.

I want to travel near Seattle but not to Canada or Portland. Where else can I go?

handabear — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 09:40:55 -0800

Last minute spring break starting from Seattle for under $500? Here's the deal:

We have $500, the evening of March 26 through morning of March 29th free. We live in Seattle and would like to get out of the city. We can drive, but not a lot - preferably not more than 4 hours. Portland and leaving the US are not options. We could possibly take a plane or train somewhere, but that would cut into our budget heavily. Boy, we're difficult! But we're open to suggestions. What have you enjoyed in the area? Any personal recommendations? Thanks!

I can't relax fast enough

EatTheWeak — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:55:10 -0800

What is your best technique for calming down quickly? There's a lot of good threads in AskMe's archives on long-term relief of stress and anxiety. Short term solutions are harder to come by. For me, dread, depression and anxiety come in waves that quickly grow too intense to function through. But it seems that, if I catch it before the point of hopeless constriction, I can break the paralysis and go back to acting and feeling like a regular person.

So, I's like to know what everyone's favorite and most effective methods are for calming down quickly. What do you do to settle down in a hurry when you feel your stress level exploding? I'm curious about any procedure that works, but I'm most interested in things that I can do inconspicuously, in case the freak-out I'm hoping to avert is happening in public or in mid-conversation.

Never mind about long-term fixes - there's plenty to read in the archives. I want to be an expert in anxiety triage.

Relaxation tapes?

beautifulcheese — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:52:28 -0800

I need to introduce some sort of anxiety/stress relief system into my life and relaxation tapes have been suggested. Any recommendations? My therapist suggested I look on Amazon for such things but I'm leery of just buying one out of the blue with no idea if its too new agey or what. I've reacted badly to a few such tapes in the past (Getting very anxious when specific muscles were introduced probably do to past trauma) but am at a spot where I am willing to try again as anxiety is starting to play a bigger part in my life than I like.

Has anyone used such things? I'm thinking towards the muscle tightening/relaxing type and less sitting in a corner saying Om. Did you find them effective? Any other advice for an anxiety newbie?

(Excuse the poorly written paragraphs. I'm word fishing today due to the depression)

What the hell?

jumbotron08 — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:31:27 -0800

Why don't any drugs work for me? I'm on like my 800th muscle relaxant/sleeping pill and they (all of the pills I've tried etc) still no no noticeable effect on me.

I even took 3 cyclobenzaprine 10 mg tablets or flexedril tablets. That's 3 times the recommended fucking dosage and I don't even feel sleepy. What the hell?

Seriously. It seems like this problem is related to every pill I take too (for anything), more than half of them just don't work at all. Is it possible to have a resistance to a ton of drugs? Is this some kind of medical condition? What is going on?!

Where can I relax in NYC?

missjamielynn — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:56:50 -0800

Where is your favorite NYC spot to clear your mind? I've been living in NYC for the past 6 years and I've mostly hung out in the East Village since that's where I live. I've been to places like museums and parks outside of the village, but I'm looking for more 'off the beaten path' destinations. For instance: I like sitting on the benches along the Hudson river path-stuff like that. Any suggestions would be great, but I'm not really looking to spend money.

Wind down in Tempe

forallmankind — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:50:59 -0800

I will be in Tempe for the New Year and my friends and I could all use some R & R - any recommendations on hot springs, mud baths, massage etc. in that area? (Or any other take-it-easy type activity).

How can I make myself feel energized?

tastybrains — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 12:07:48 -0800

How can I get myself to feel refreshed & energized after feeling run-down for awhile? I constantly feel overwhelmed with life and thus stressed out and burnt out. I'm looking for advice on how to feel energetic again. I feel sleepy, somewhat sick, and run-down most of the time. I have trouble concentrating a lot, and can fall asleep at the drop of a hat. On the weekends when I don't have an alarm to wake me, I can sleep 14 hours no problem.

I'm in my mid-twenties, working full-time, married, living with my husband & two cats. I have been dealing with depression/anxiety (currently being treated with Wellbutrin and Celexa) and am also working to lose a lot of weight. I feel like I'm too young to feel so stressed and tired.

My diet has been pretty darn good as of late, as I've been losing about 1 lb per week - I've cut out almost all sugar that isn't naturally occurring in fruit and have been getting plenty of whole grains, vegetables, legumes, lean protein, and "good" fats (olive oil, etc). I've been exercising about 4 times a week for about 30 minutes and breaking a sweat.

I thought these things would "fix" me, but I still feel like crap almost all of the time. I still have a lot of weight left to lose, but I don't feel like extra weight alone should make me feel so BAD.

This has gone on for more than a year. I have been working with my doctors who basically have no answer except "depression", but honestly since being on the meds, I don't feel depressed anymore. I feel motivated, and there are so many things I want to do, but I just don't have the physical energy.

My doctor has done tons of blood tests and follow up blood tests. She has tested for lyme, lupus, and a gazillion other things. The only thing that is abnormal is my C-Reactive Protein and another inflammation marker are elevated, but they cannot figure out the cause of that.

I don't know what to do to feel better, but I'm looking for advice as to things I myself can do. I know exercise is important and has in the past made me feel better, but lately it just makes me feel even more run-down.

I was thinking I could take a week off in the spring to try & get my energy back, but I don't know how. Most likely if I took a vacation or a long weekend, I would take naps & read, which is all I ever seem to feel like doing.

Help?

Sleep inducing, relaxing recliners? Where do I get one?

mphuie — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 00:11:19 -0800

Sleep inducing, relaxing recliners? Where do I get one? Does anyone who makes/where to get those extremely comfortable recliners/chairs? I was in a home audio demo room earlier and they had the most comfortable recliner there. It also reminded me of these chairs that were in the business building of the school I went to (Case Western). You could literally sit in one for 5 minutes and you were asleep.

I've worked in a furniture store a long time, and the lazboy, ekornes brands didn't do it for me. Does anyone have any recommendations? Under 2k would be nice.

Relaxing/tranquil visuals on DVD?

cscwallace — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 16:47:48 -0800

I recently cut the cable and now watch only DVDs on my TV. While I don't miss the cable bill, I do miss having visuals on the TV at mealtimes. Any recommendations for DVDs of relaxing/tranquil atmospherics -- such as sunsets, waterfalls, rainforests, mountains, ocean scenes, etc?

Autophobia!

ZackTM — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 12:36:51 -0800

How can I deal with irrational attention craving issues when I'm out at the bar with my girlfriend? Not unlike this poster, http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/18620, I am having a problem 'chilling out' when it comes to my girlfriend. Luckily, I only have the problem in specific situations.

Background: We've been together for a month and definitely have a high level of infatuation. We get a long great, and my closest friends think she's great for me. They don't see it as a one-sided relationship. 90% of the time, I am cool, and laid back. I don't worry about how to behave around her or anything, I don't worry (too much) about whether she likes me.

Yet when we go out to bars, more often than not I get bad anxiety that I'm not getting enough attention.

I have no suspicions that this girl is talking to other guys or even coming off as single to people. Rather, we go out and she doesn't give me the 100% attention level I seem to crave. She's not anti-PDA normally but often at bars she loves to be independant from everyone. She's a wanderer.

Now, I am well aware this is stupid of me. She pays me plenty of attention usually. She just wants to have fun at bars. She's not hitting on guys. Part of this is that I'm really head over heels infatuated, and she's pretty much amazing to me-- i dont want to do anything to screw it up.

I don't really drink all that much around her at bars, luckily (thank god) my irrationality hasn't been too affected by drinking thus far. I'm just as crazy sober. Actually the one time we had a
great evening together (where she was wandering), I was quite drunk and didn't even notice.

Part of my problem is I've only been in this town for 9 months. I don't have any go-to best friends who I have the for-life connection with here yet. I don't have a social network of people I'm excited to run into at a bar. Before the GF, my bar time was spent searching for babes.

This Sunday is her birthday. I freaked out last night at the pre-birthday celebration and gave myself my first ever panic attack because I got into a loop of being anxious and being anxious I was anxious. This cannot happen again. I have never been Geronimo Jealous like this before, and if thats the guy I become in this relationship, I need to end it for both our sakes. But she's amazing and I need to grow the hell up. (I wish I could just pop a xanax and relax but the non-prescription route is a lot smarter in this situation).

How do I calm myself down and relax enough to have fun and not being Professor Clingsalot at the bar?

West Coast mini-vacation ideas

cyniczny — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 07:16:09 -0800

I have four days (Fri to Mon) in May for a mini-vacation. I'm located in AZ and would like to stay in the western portion of the US, so I don't spend the whole time travelling. Other than that, I'm open to places to visit. I have lived in CA and WA, so something outside of those states would be better. Budget is moderate and I'll be travelling with my spouse. Any suggestions of cool places to go visit that are not too "touristy" and provide some scenic areas to take photos and relax? Additional preferences are specifically not given because I really am open to anything and don't want to dampen the suggestions. Thanks!