Unwinding, Unplugging, Relaxing . . . 

What have you been up to since Christmas Day?  After all the unwrapping, cooking, eating, cleaning up, traveling, seeing family, unpacking, drinking, celebrating, what do you normally do?  Well, I normally begin organizing and putting things away, undecorating the Christmas tree, putting up the decorations and energetically cleaning the house of all the mess that comes along with the Holidays.  I grew up with the superstition that the tree HAD to come down before New Year’s or the following year would be full of terrible, earth shattering bad luck.  That’s all in the past.  This year I’ve decided that I haven’t had the best of luck anyway so I wanted to just sit and enjoy our Christmas tree a little while longer.  (Since it is an enormous, too tall, too big, too fat tree chosen by the First and Second son anyway.  Might as well enjoy it and put off the even bigger job of taking it down!)

So, this is what I’ve been doing:  Sleeping past my normal 6 am wake up time, sipping coffee and reading in the mornings, walking the dogs, phoning my Mom, watching tons of old black and white movies, sipping a glass of wine by the fire, teaching a lighter schedule of fitness classes, going to bed early, watching action movies with the Third son, or listening to music and unplugging from the computer and internet.  There is no hustle and bustle.  There is no rush to get all of the decorations down. There’s no rush to be busy and crazy.  It’s a nice little window of time to be a homebody, hang with my family and dogs and just “be”.  

I hope you have been able to find some time, an hour, a few minutes each day, a whole day or a few days to unwind and unplug and simply “be”.  If you think it doesn’t matter, here are a few benefits for those of you who like the science side of things.

Relaxation

• gives the heart a rest by slowing the heart rate
• reduces blood pressure
• slows the rate of breathing, which reduces the need for oxygen
• increases blood flow to the muscles
• decreases muscle tension

As a result of relaxation, many people experience –

• more energy
• better sleep
• enhanced immunity
• increased concentration
• better problem-solving abilities
• greater efficiency
• smoother emotions — less anger, crying, anxiety, frustration
• less headaches and pain

see more here

That’s it for “plugging in” for me today.  What are you up to?  I hope you are having a relaxing day!  And I promise my decorations will be down before July!