Everything that takes the mind off of all the stress of contemporary life.

  • ogy@fedia.io
    50·
    1 month ago

    i go stand in a forest for an hour every week. i don’t walk, run, or do anything interesting. i just stand there, watch and listen

    • baggachipz@sh.itjust.works
      9·
      1 month ago

      I hike on trails near my house, but I make sure to look around and take in the small things. Even if I’ve been on the trail a thousand times, there’s always something new to see.

      • ogy@fedia.io
        3·
        1 month ago

        I was going for forest walks at the time to help deal with my depression and for some reason just tried to be as quiet as possible one day. It was the best and I realized I didn’t actually like the fitness part of the walk. Being as slow and quiet as possible felt much better

        • HeHoXa@lemmy.zip
          3·
          1 month ago

          If you’re interested in ramping that up a bit:

          • edge habitats: try to pock spots where ecosystems meet, like forest meets field
          • wind alignment: stay upwind downwind (how did I do that) if possible
          • stillness (what you’re doing): 10-15mins of stillness between slow movement
          • pinch points: check the map and try to find spots like where a ridge narrows that funnel animals
          • tracking: look out for tracks, poop, etc

          Investing in a little popup blind or camo netting or something to hide in can be magic

          • ogy@fedia.io
            2·
            1 month ago

            dude thank you this is very cool! I’ve noticed the forest meeting the field being interesting but hadn’t thought past that

  • SpruceBringsteen@lemmy.worldEnglish
    33·
    1 month ago

    Photo walks. Your whole point just becomes to go out and take in the scenery. Makes you slow down and appreciate your surroundings in a way that a walk doesn’t. If you’re after wildlife you have to move with intention, lest you scare the subject. If it’s a more static subject you’ve more time to take in the light and shadows, frame your background.

  • Bruncvik@lemmy.world
    24·
    1 month ago

    Running. Just one foot in front of the other. Bonus points for running in a new place and taking in the sights.

    • lepinkainen@lemmy.world
      4·
      1 month ago

      What does your mind do when you’re running? Can you just clear all thoughts and focus on breathing and one foot after the other.

      Or does the repetition make you spiral on every bad decision from the last 20 years like me 😅

      • Bruncvik@lemmy.world
        4·
        1 month ago

        My mind is writing books or short stories that will never be set on a paper, inventing new things that I have no idea how they’d work, but most importantly, my mind is busy arguing with others, and winning every argument :)

      • RBWells@lemmy.world
        4·
        1 month ago

        I am like you, running is good exercise but too boring and I can’t stop thinking. Aerobic dance like Jazzercise is perfectly calibrated so that I can just follow/do and not think but the class near me ended, they are only out in the suburbs now. Yoga is good if it’s the challenging vinyasa flow with music, I can sometimes get into that perfect mindset. But fucking Jazzercise was oddly perfect and is gone.

  • Noxy@pawb.socialEnglish
    18·
    1 month ago

    Adult band program at a School of Rock franchise.

    Weekly 90 minute rehearsal, and we put on a show every 3-4 months. Our big show is today, I’m playing keys on seven songs this time around.

    Also, separately from that, I play bass in a cover band that I met through the School of Rock program.

    Music’s some good shit.

    • GloriousGasHole@piefed.socialEnglish
      2·
      1 month ago

      I discovered School of Rock in Denver, and they do shows at Red Rocks too. I think its such an awesome idea. I attended one free lesson last year and haven’t gone back yet, but I have been trying to dedicate some time to guitar recently. I find it so difficult to maintain the motivation to practice as an adult. any tips?

      • Noxy@pawb.socialEnglish
        2·
        1 month ago

        My motivation is all around deepening my enjoyment of music I already know and love. Listening to a great song is awesome but playing part of it on an instrument is so much deeper of a way to engage with and enjoy it

  • Geodes & Gems@lemmy.mlEnglish
    18·
    1 month ago

    This might sound weird but, before bed I try to do basically nothing, I just sit on the couch & let myself relax, maybe with a little reading on the side.

  • auzy1@lemmy.worldBanned
    18·
    1 month ago

    I haven’t dreamed when sleeping for a few years really now

    Been reading dungeon crawler Carl and it’s the first time I’m dreaming mostly every night now. Just more relaxed

      • auzy1@lemmy.worldBanned
        2·
        1 month ago

        I already take supplements. My issue is that my mind tends to constantly think. I used to read a lot (and dreampt constantly then)… So, I think this is the main factor

  • zxqwas@lemmy.world
    14·
    1 month ago

    I’m currently stood in a forest many km from the nearest inhabited place hunting for moose.

    A few birds chirping in the distance. The leaves falling off the trees one by one. The sun slowly rising.

  • zip@pawb.social
    14·
    1 month ago

    On the one hand I’m a volunteer for the Red Cross which is a very satisfying and “in the moment” activity.

    On the other hand I put on a mask and pretend to be a dog for a while

  • yucandu@lemmy.world
    14·
    1 month ago

    I build things, electronics mostly. Then the next day I get to admire what yesterday-me built.

    • elephantium@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      1 month ago

      Would you mind talking a bit more about your approach to cooking? I take some satisfaction from being able to cook and sometimes from the feeling of improving my skill as a cook, but mostly it feels like a necessary chore.

      • ExtraJudgement@lemmy.world
        1·
        1 month ago

        Sure! But it’s not particularly sophisticated. Other than staple recipes (like e.g. vegetables stews) I learned while growing up, when there’s a product I was previously dependent on buying ready-made that gets enshittified by the food industry so much I’m unwilling to pay the full asking price, I start looking into the recipe for it and experiment to calibrate quality, time efficiency, and material cost to the exact tradeoff I consider best for me. Frozen pizza vs self made pizza being one example.

        My joy in cooking, aside from the above optimization process I find fun, comes from knowning I pay less money to eat a better quality (and almost always less unhealthy) meal than I’d otherwise be able to. Once I have a recipe dialed in, it also requires virtually no thinking to get done, which is the opposite of my daily work; that’s the “unwinding” for me. I can then also combine it with listening to some audiobook or TTRPG actual play / podcast.

        Due to this depth-first approach my actual list of recipes isn’t incredibly large, but it’s enough to never get boring by now, at least.