Few people would doubt that therapy is incredibly important and useful when you need to heal your emotional wounds, try to ‘reboot yourself,’ and just relax in this crazy race called life. An experienced specialist will always help... well, almost always. But there are cases when therapy is quite successfully replaced by all sorts of small joys in life.
Simple little things that, nevertheless, fill our souls with peace and tranquility, make us breathe deeply, and feel the taste for life again. And it is precisely these things that are the subject of a recent online thread, a selection of the best opinions from which we present to you today.
More info: Reddit
#1
Laughing so hard with a friend that your stomach muscles ache.
Image credits: Middle-Cranberry-792
#2
Walking into the woods and bathing in the sunlight and coolness. There’s something about trees that gives me a sense of calm. That and petting cats and dogs.
Image credits: Total_Aerie_3778
#3
Being at the beach, listening to the ocean.
Image credits: CJ-185
The original thread appeared a little less than two weeks ago in the AskReddit community, where the topic starter, the user u/Radiant-Assumption53, asked people the question: "What's something that isn't therapy, but feels like therapy?"
Apparently, the author touched a nerve with netizens - because today the thread has over 8.1K upvotes and almost 10K various comments. The discussion turned out to be lively - a great opportunity to get acquainted with the most popular ideas.
#4
Taking a nap in the middle of the day.
Image credits: Degen_Boy
#5
Petting a cat while eating ice cream in pajamas.
Image credits: grouper01
#6
Playtime with my dog.
Image credits: unlessyoumeantit
It’s quite interesting that the simplest things often turn out to be the most effective in improving your mental health. Just walking in the forest or along the seashore, reading interesting books, hugging your loved ones, petting your cat or dog - all this really helps. However, it’s important that what you do really brings you pleasure. For example, many people love doing chores - so why not do it as a kind of therapy?
#7
A good talk with a friend isn't therapy, but sure feels like it.
Image credits: PM_me_TitsOfAnySize
#8
Alone time.
Image credits: sleepingrusher
#9
Crafting. When you get in the zone it’s like meditation. For me, quilting by hand does the trick.
Image credits: CursingWhileCrafting
"It is a well-known fact that the famous writer Agatha Christie came up with a significant part of her detective plots and stories while washing dishes manually in the sink," says Maria Kryvosheeva, a psycholgost and NLP coach, with whom Bored Panda got in touch with for a comment here. "She simply distracted herself from everyday life in this way, and could think over ideas for her books."
"This actually perfectly illustrates how such mechanisms work. Simple, familiar things give us the opportunity to clear our heads and get a share of dopamine, ‘the pleasure hormone.’ And regular repetition of this gradually smoothes out almost any wounds in the soul. Of course, all this will not replace therapy, but as an addition to it, it's nothing but great and useful."
#10
When I get home from work and my wife picks up our 5 month old boy so he can see me approach, and he does a full-face wide-mouthed squinty-eyed smile once he sees me. It resets my entire soul.
On a similar thread, once he is asleep and my wife is asleep and I have cleaned the kitchen and reset the house for the next day, I feel like I'm crossing some kind of finish line.
Image credits: Phalus_Falator
#11
Going to the movie theater alone is one of my so-called therapies. I sometimes go to the beach by myself. Being alone sometimes gives you peace.
Image credits: ambersunshinne
#12
Gardening. I cannot speak to the WHY of it but in numerous real world settings, such as post-WW2 relocation camps, people who participated in gardening found their way back to health at a rate far greater than those who did not.
Image credits: venturebirdday
"Basically, any thing, any hobby that brings you pleasure, that allows you to detach yourself from painful memories, life problems, and experiences, makes you focus on more pleasant things - it's a kind of therapy. And, combined with a real therapy with a doctor, it could actually bring great results," Maria concludes. In fact, many things in our lives can trigger a surge of dopamine.
"Dopamine is most notably involved in helping us feel pleasure as part of the brain's reward system. [Intimacy], shopping, smelling cookies baking in the oven - all these things can trigger dopamine release, or a ‘dopamine rush,’" says Stephanie Watson, former Executive Editor of Harvard Women’s Health Watch. And dopamine is the first step to healing from a lot of mental anguish.
#13
Drawing.
Image credits: Drae_1234
#14
Going for a long drive with no destination in mind, just your favorite music blasting. There's something about the road, the tunes, and your thoughts that can really clear your mind and soothe your soul. It's like a reset button for a bad day.
Image credits: PrincessXFlirt
#15
A massage.
Image credits: Ridindirtydishes
I believe you yourself have often encountered a situation when some simple everyday things work as a salvation from various mental issues, so if you have something that allows you to relax (and is not listed in this selection of ours), then please feel free to share it in the comments below. And of course, make sure to scroll this list to the very end - after all, maybe you could find something in there that's wholesome for you too.
#16
For me it's exercise, being able to turn off my brain while listening to music and exerting all of my energy into something positive is something I wouldn't be able to find in anything else really except fitness.
Image credits: Hades7119
#17
My favorite self-care day starts with putting my phone on do not disturb. Next is getting a haircut and beard trim at the local barbershop. Then I go home and rinse off. Hit the gym. And then hit up a bakery for a croissant. I finish the afternoon with a trip to see a movie by myself with a big sugary drink and a bag of popcorn that I pour M&M's into.
Edit: I forgot to add that I don't tell anybody I took the day off from work.
Image credits: finite_digress
#18
Baking bread from scratch. Something about kneading dough for 10 minutes straight just hits different. Plus, my apartment smells amazing and I get to stress eat warm bread after. Win-win.
Image credits: TemptingSunflower
#19
Sunlight with good weather, greenery and tasty food that doesn’t make you feel bloated, sick or uncomfortable after.
Image credits: GRAVEPISSA
#20
Travel. I'm always better in a new place.
Image credits: Abclul
#21
Music / dancing around to music.
Image credits: Mcrisloveex9
#22
Cleaning and organizing, it’s oddly therapeutic for my mind.
Image credits: bunnybreeb
#23
Listening to music while reading the lyrics.
Image credits: devilishbarbieqw
#24
Talking to my plants like they’re my therapists. no judgment, just leaves.
Image credits: brrooklynbrownn
#25
Having a glass of wine by yourself with no music of tv on.
Image credits: isabel_star66
#26
A good cry.
Image credits: AbsolixTheDevourer
#27
Bob Ross!
#28
Ceramics
- something about getting your hands in that malleable clay, being creative and making a mess.
Image credits: PartySweet987
#29
Dungeons and Dragons
I've had many bad games through the years but I can noticeably track the positive changes its had on my confidence and interpersonal skills, which is crazy for a game where you do funny voices and math.
Image credits: heynoswearing
#30
A solo motorcycle ride.
#31
Psychedelics, i would argue they are superior to therapy.
Image credits: Autotist
#32
Lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling, and letting my existential crisis play like a slideshow. Surprisingly calming.
Image credits: petitenpeachy
