Relax!
Something I don't think I've EVER really done...
Let me begin with a word of advice—please do NOT go around telling people to “relax” (especially if that person is me). Believe me, if they could, they would—they aren’t just waiting around for your helpful reminder. I’ve been urged to “try and relax” in the agonizing throes of labor and delivery, which is UNhelpful in the extreme. Even during my rare spa visits, the masseuse invariably comments on my remarkable amount of muscle tension. In response, my body immediately clenches 300% more. As Governor Walz said the other night during the Philadelphia rally, “We’ll sleep when we’re dead!” I concur, sir! Though on some level I imagine still grinding my teeth, even during my eternal slumber.
I do seek out resources for relaxation though (or at least, for taking the edge off my tenseness). For those of you who share my unfortunate tendency to clench, I hope you can find something useful here. For those who are already super-relaxed…this is still cool stuff (and teach me your secret!)
MUSIC: “Weightless” by Marconi Union
This is touted as the world’s most relaxing music. I can’t prove that’s true, but it does calm and slow me down…
MOST SOOTHING CELEBRITY VOICES IN THE WORLD (OFFICIAL LIST)
From Sir David Attenborough to Snoop Dogg to Samuel L. Jackson, here’s a ranking of mellifluous well-known voices to lull you to sleep…it seems to have to do with pace and pitch of delivery…here’s a clip of the winner. See if you agree…
SCENTS WITH A SENSE OF CALM…
ROSE
I’m a scented candle fan—but a picky one. Some candles are waaaayy too overpowering. My best candle experiences have involved the higher-end candles (Diptyque is a favorite) when they go on sale…or I just buy the smallest size, which usually is enough to make my little home office smell lovely…
LAVENDER
I’d love to recommend a lavender bubble bath, but the truth is I am far too restless to settle down in a tub. Instead, I like a nice lavender body wash for those “relaxing” three minute showers I tend to favor…
CHAMOMILE
My dear friend Sherri is the essential oils queen. She uses them all the time—for healing, for relaxation, etc. Over the years I have amassed quite a collection of little bottles, which I’ve used for prayer activities at church, BUT NEVER ONCE TOOK THE TIME TO USE MYSELF. The final night of our annual Advent Prayer Center, I would walk around Parish Hall blowing out candles and turning off music, regretfully realizing I’d done all that work and not taken a single second to slow down and experience it…sigh…
RECIPES
I was wondering if cooking with these same flowers might be relaxing too. My conclusion: not for me. While I dearly love to cook and bake, I do not head to the kitchen to decompress. My culinary capers look more like the last frenzied seconds of a Top Chef competition. Ah well, at least the food usually tastes good…
WHITE ROSE CAKE WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE FROSTING
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AWWWW…MORE AWE!!
I rarely write callbacks to my previous newsletters, but wanted to share this terrific reflection by NYT columnist Frank Bruni that appeared in my inbox the other day—right after I published last week’s E-Musing, “Awestruck.” I believe that the same ideas often crop up simultaneously in many places. This may be the universe’s way of reminding us that what the world needs now is…more awe and wonder!
On a Personal Note—by Frank Bruni
You can’t predict the best sunsets. Or, if you can, I don’t know how. You can examine the pattern of clouds on the horizon, watch the sun as its downward slide seems to accelerate and guess, correctly, that its final bow will be pretty.
But spectacular? That’s serendipity. And that’s much of what makes it so special.
I finished dinner with friends on Long Island recently and walked outside to behold the colors in the image above. To say that they stopped me in my tracks would be a cliché. It would also be accurate. I felt almost absurdly happy. And I later contemplated why.
Maybe because so much in our lives becomes so complicated, especially as the years accrue and our web of acquaintances, obligations and regrets sprawls. We have all these decisions and amends to make, so many needs crowding our thoughts and wants roiling our hearts. It can be unnerving, overwhelming. Then Mother Nature stages a show like the one to which she treated me and, for a moment, nothing matters but the beauty before you. Pleasure is as simple as opening your eyes. Peace is as easy as standing still.
I’m so often so jaded. I can predict how the seemingly happy story will turn dark. I brace for the unveiling of the newest hero’s flaws. On various fronts and in various ways, I gird for disappointment, reasoning that it will be softened by my preparations for it. Then the sky catches fire more brilliantly than I could have imagined, and I’m reacquainted with a feeling from which I should never have estranged myself. It’s the tickle of wonder.
BLOG PREVIEW: TRUTHINESS
Down memory lane with early Colbert, and discovering the “kayfabe” of WWF…as Pontius Pilate NEVER said to Jesus, “What is truthiness?” Join me over at Working Title—for real!
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
Try this, my friends. Start by clenching one fist, then follow Krista’s instructions above. It works. Cradling your fist with tenderness softens it. What a metaphor for the times we are in…be gentle this week, with yourself and others…