Having spent months working as hard as possible to be in a good place to take time off work. I jetted off to have time in the sun. After a few days, I finally let go of the stresses and day to day work and relaxed.
My shoulders have definitely been up round my ears for so long, trying to get them to drop down has been a huge challenge. It took days of being away for me to feel relaxed and begin to see those shoulders drop.
It’s hard not to relax when you are in an environment essentially promoting it, from beautiful beaches and crystal clear turquoise waters to blue sky, heat and sunshine. No pressure to get up early, no need to do anything, all I need to do is drink plenty water and have an amazing time.
It is always difficult to switch off from work if your laptop is near, you get work emails on your phone or you have a pile of work to do when you get home. But leaving your laptop at home, switching off your emails and immersing yourself in the locality of where you are and having a daily focus will really help you to let go of work.
From day one, I had something to focus on, whether it was the book I was reading or the lunch we were having or even the feeling of sand beneath my feet. There was always something to take my mind away from the usual day to day. Letting go of work, was far easier than I thought.
One of the days, after sitting on the sand for an hour or so, I decided to venture into the water and cool down. The water felt really cool on my skin, it was bliss. Once I had submerged my shoulders and got used to the temperature, it was fantastic. I could feel my body cool down and no longer felt sweaty and hot. After some time I walked out of the sea to pick up a snorkel to watch the fish.
It had been a few years since I had snorkelled, so getting the mask and snorkel to fit took a moment. But once it was on, I stuck my face in the water, lifted my feet up, swam and floated to find the fish. When you are relying on breathing in and out through your mouth, it can be a challenge as we breathe through our nose a lot of the time. It took time for me to feel comfortable and relax into it.
Once I was in the swing of it, it was wonderful to watch the fish, going about their daily life, swimming in and out of the rocks eating food here and there and being taken along with the current. There were many colourful fish and more than I realised. Big shoals of silvery fish or small shoals of stripy fish. It was brilliant to be part of their world for a short time.
There were two things I noticed when I was snorkelling:
- My breathing was calm, slow and deep. It wasn’t the shallow breathing I had been doing for so long. I felt calm and relaxed whilst snorkelling that my world had slowed down. Breathing slow and deep was helping to me be in a calm state. Once I came out of the water, I realised my breathing had clearly been shallow for such a long time.
- Focus. There is nothing else to focus on other than the fish swimming past, or the coral/rocks keeping many hidden. Your mind stops trundling on at a million miles an hour. It is pure bliss. I didn’t think of this at the time, but more as a reflection when I came out of the water and the world began again.
As the day went on, my body temperature was lower, my mosquito bites had cooled and were less itchy, my breathing was slow and deep and most importantly my shoulders had dropped. All this from a dip in the sea.
The next opportunity at the beach, I went into the water again and enjoyed it even more, as I knew what the benefits would be. I hadn’t realised how shallow and fast my breathing had been until I was in the water, breathing slow and deep. I needed this, without even realising at the time. Afterwards, I made a conscious effort to pay attention to how I was breathing throughout my day. This in turn helps my shoulders to relax.
Holidays are always great for getting away from the day to day. Quite often we don’t realise how stressed or non stop we have been until we get away from it all.
You don’t need to go on holiday to feel calm and slow your breathing down. All you need to do is take a few minutes out of your day to day and focus on your breathing, slow it down and feel your mind calm as your breath slows. Give it a go and see how you feel.
The next time you are on holiday or in the sea, if you do get a chance to snorkel, I would highly recommend it. Notice how you feel when you come out of the water compared to when you went in.
Thank you for reading, have a great week and look after you.
Love Emma xx
Wellbeing with Relaxing Lavender 