How to relax in the evening: 6 ideas for activities to let go

Relaxing is an exercise

To avoid going to bed mentally exhausted, you need to find an activity that will enable you to release tension in both body and mind. The first exercise is to define that activity. But often, it’s not a question of THE right activity: it’s a question of finding one that you enjoy, that gives you pleasure and that relaxes you.

The good news is that there are lots of techniques available to you (just don’t be too exhausted from your day to remember them!). Any ideas or advice? Join a sports club or go for a short walk, eat a piece of chocolate, play the guitar or listen to the piano, water your garden or take care of your indoor vegetable gardenknit or embroider, paint or write. It doesn’t matter, as long as you enjoy yourself.

How to relax in the evening? Choose from our 6 ideas!

1. Yoga and other breathing activities

A yoga session is a series of postures designed to stretch your body, release tension and relax you. What’s more, this sport doesn’t require a major investment (all you need is a mat) and can be practised alone at home, in a group or in a class. Indoors or out. There are lots of sessions available on YouTube, even for beginners. Avoid toning sessions before bedtime, however, and prefer relaxation sessions with simple, gentle postures and stretching.

One of the strongest elements of yoga is breathing. And breathing and meditation also help you to let go. If the term “meditation” frightens you, remember that all you have to do is isolate yourself, in a room or outside, sit with your back straight, close your eyes, breathe deeply (even noisily, if it feels good) and, rather than thinking about your bills, think only about your inhalations and exhalations. Relaxation guaranteed!

Simple breathing activities can also help… We never pay attention to them, but a few simple inhalations and exhalations can free us. Try the 4-7-8 method, for example, in the morning or at the end of the day. Sit in a chair, back straight, stomach tucked in and feet on the floor. Close your eyes, inhale for 4 seconds while counting in your head, hold your breath for 7 seconds, and exhale with your mouth open for 8 seconds. Do this for a few minutes. This is a good exercise for freeing the mind.

2. Take a moment for yourself

Thinking only of yourself, forgetting the office, negative thoughts, everyday worries… Do you have a bathtub? Now’s the time to put it to good use, as it can help you with this relaxation exercise. Simply run yourself a warm or hot bath (but not TOO hot), add a few drops of essential oils or a few pinches of coarse salt, light some candles, and enjoy. Water relaxes muscles and relieves stress, even more so before going to sleep. Water cleanses in every sense of the word.

Massages, with a practitioner, in pairs or as a self-massage, also help to relax and relieve tension. With essential oils (lavender, basil, etc.): massage areas of tension (generally the neck and lower back) for around 5 to 10 minutes.

Another option: a foot massage! Have you ever noticed that wave of happiness that comes over you when you take off your shoes? That’s how important your feet are to your well-being. Take off your shoes, walk barefoot, free your feet, and why not: run yourself a foot bath (with warm water and essential oils, once again).

3. Taking care of plants

Add a green plant to your interior, and you’ll see the beneficial effect this simple living creature brings to a room and to your life. Taking care of your garden, your indoor vegetable garden or even a simple green plant helps to soothe you. Take your mind off what’s going on around you – your job, your worries – and think only of your plant and its well-being. Gardening is a particularly relaxing occupation.

4. Play (or listen to) a musical instrument

Playing an instrument, and concentrating on the sound that comes out of it rather than on your personal worries, can be a great way to free yourself. And you don’t have to be Mozart to enjoy it. Just listening to music can help you relax. Remember ” music soothes the soul“. It wasn’t Leroux who said this, but Plato and then Aristotle. You can listen to relaxing music (lots of playlists are available on YouTube, Deezer or Spotify) or listen to any music you like. Music that makes you smile, dance or sing.

5. Treat your stomach!

When you get home, forget about all the administrative and household chores. Don’t tidy up, don’t do the laundry, don’t clean the bathroom. No, but you can go into the kitchen and prepare a delicious meal or hot drink. For yourself, your family or your friends.

Don’t know how to cook / don’t like to cook? You don’t have to prepare a meal worthy of the finest gourmet restaurants, just concoct something that’s sure to please your stomach. Even if it’s just pasta and parmesan. Even if it’s just a simple plain chicory. The idea is simply to concoct yourself a little dish that will bring you satisfaction and happiness (both in the making and in the tasting, of course).

6. Invite friends and be surrounded

Letting go also means having fun, laughing and talking about things. Sometimes you don’t need to think for hours about how to relax in the evening, when you can simply invite friends over spontaneously and share a good meal, a hot drink or even an all-night chat.

Last but not least, blue light from screens should be avoided before you go to bed. So to relax, rather than turning on the TV or your smartphone, open a good book, comic or magazine.