Adventures in Relaxing

I'm not great at relaxing. And I know relaxing doesn't sound like much of an adventure, but for me, it can be!
I don't know what it is. I'm good at doing nothing, but relaxing is more difficult because even when doing nothing, my brain keeps going. When I'm doing nothing, I'm still thinking about what I need to do, who I need to help, how much I need to get done.  Often, I'm so busy thinking about it, I don't even realize how much time has lapsed and how little I've accomplished in the meantime.  So I've neither relaxed nor actually done anything but sit on my butt...  Does anyone else do that?

The other thing I tend to do is "relax" and then proceed to multi-task.   So I'll sit down to watch Doctor Who (on Amazon Prime) or GMM (Good Mythical Morning on Youtube) with my husband, and then instead of just watching and relaxing, I start fiddling with this blog, scrolling through facebook (which... if any of you do, you know it gets stressful), tidying, and countless other menial tasks that keep me occupied outside of sitting still.  I "watch" the show with my ears more than my eyes.
Even though I really enjoy the shows I watch, I find it hard to sit and let that be the only thing I'm doing.

I think that may be the problem. I'm not good at sitting still without moving and I've always been that way.  Even when I was in school, I always needed to be moving my hands to pay attention, so I would make paper stars, doodle in my notebook, write stories, or do homework for other classes rather than just sit and listen.  I was always paying attention, but I needed to keep my hands engaged or i would find my attention wandering to my own la la dreamland. A lot of teachers thought I wasn't focusing, but I could usually repeat the main points of the lesson without a problem and I did pretty well on exams.

A beautiful sunny day and a walk
for relaxation 

What I've been realizing is that maybe watching shows and sitting still is not the best
way for me to relax.  It still leaves my brain space to wander and therefore to overthink... and then stress. 
So the best way for me to relax is to actually move around: to walk, swim, hike, bike... I do my best relaxing in motion.
While walking, there are so many other things to focus on like the trees, the path, the view of the city, the people wandering around me.  If I'm going for speed, I focus on my breathing and trying to beat whatever pace I set the day before.
When hiking, it's similar. I don't think too much about the problems of my world because I'm so focused on the nature around me.  I'm focused on putting one foot in front of the next and not tripping on branches and roots.

Playing by the pool

When swimming, I'm focusing on getting it right and not breathing water.  When I get into a zone, I focus on the stroke and the feeling of the water cradling me, keeping me weightless.

It's easier for me to relax when I have an activity to do and I relax even more when I have company to share in that time with me.

Two weekends ago, we went down to my mom's place down the shore and it was a fun and relaxing weekend.

Walking down the pier on the bay

Walking past the drawbridge

The best relaxing moments were not those spent vegging in front of the TV (although that was okay too), but the biggest relaxation was in splashing around in the pool, then walking down the pier and eventually the boardwalk with my mom and Baros.

In the early afternoon, we went to the pool for a bit.  It wasn't strenuous swimming, but it was relaxing just splashing around in the sun and chatting with my mom's friends in the complex.

On the boardwalk, goofing around

Then later on, we went down to the pier and wandered past the restaurants and the boats.   We walked all the way to the end and back but it wasn't a long enough walk so we drove over to the boardwalk and walked there.  We started at the edge of one town and wandered all the way to the next one.

By the end of the walk, I felt calm and relaxed so I think more walks are in order.