How often do you incorporate vacation breaks for your mind? Many times we wait until we are on vacation to let our hair down, unwind, and leave our stresses of our daily lives on a break. Think about how you feel when you have some free time or a break from work, chores, and responsibilities while you vacation. That feeling is very good for your health and mental status. And it would be of greater benefit to do it more often than once a year. For some busy folks out there, you may not even take one that often.
The point isn’t how often, when, or where you take a vacation. The point is that you can utilize many avenues in your daily or weekly life to create the feeling of vacation more often. Not only does it play a positive aspect in your health, it also presents a reinvigorating opportunity to journey in your daily life. Giving yourself mental vacation breaks in your routines affects your life the way getting good sleep does. When you can get restful sleep regularly, you can function better in your awake, daily life.
It may take a little time to explore what brings you mental breaks and joy. The key is to incorporate it as often as you can. Pay attention to how you feel. How do you feel when you’re on vacation? For me a mental vacation break is relaxing. It’s focusing on the joyful moments. I feel lighter, freer, and at ease. Those are the feelings you are looking for in your day. I encourage you to look for as many pleasing things as you can through your day. The more you focus, the more you can create a feeling of ease.
I have found great benefits in creating my feeling of being on vacation at home. When I am on my “ideal” vacation, I love to relax by a pool or ocean, read a book, maybe listen to some music, or write. It’s taking it easy and enjoying small moments. I love being out in the sun and I love to eat outside when I’m on vacation. It’s doing some nothingness and the things I enjoy. Now you can create some of these factors in your day instead of waiting until you take a literal vacation to allow the experience.
Since I spend a good portion of time at home writing, taking care of my animals and spending time with family, I have slowly over time added more and more vacation feeling experiences in my backyard. I was fortunate enough to purchase a home with a deck. Through the years, I continue to add to the details. On my deck I have a table, an umbrella, and tiki torches surrounding my deck looking out at many beautiful trees and gardens. My family has also added many of these details furthering our experiences for us all to enjoy together. We have a pond with a waterfall to listen to, a small pool to float and relax in, and we are currently adding more details each year. It’s amazing what you can do when you open your mind to possibility—and you don’t even have to have a lot of space.
I have a friend who has a very small area for a porch, but she has one chair, a small table with some plants, one tiki, and candles. It’s a very small inviting space, but it allows the mental space for relaxation anytime she can sit down and take some fresh breaths of air in. It’s creating a relaxing space with what you have no matter where you are.
When I sit on my deck relaxing, reading, or writing, I am surrounded by the atmosphere that helps me feel like I am on vacation. When I can take a few hours (or if I’m really lucky, a couple of full days) that week to be on my deck relaxing, I feel like I have had a few days of vacation—without all the work that taking an actual vacation requires When you have the time for a literal vacation… great! Seize the opportunity when you can. What I’m describing is the time in between when you may not be able to go on a vacation. You can mentally create the feeling without feeling deprived.
I encourage you to find ways that bring you a little slice of vacation in your everyday life. It may be creating your environment as I have described of myself. It can be a candle placed on your desk at work. Grabbing a snow cone on a hot day. Reading a couple of pages of an interesting book. Doodling before dinner. Anything that you may wait to do on your vacation or anything that brings you that same giddy joyful feeling that arises when you are on vacation. It’s bringing that excitement in moments of your daily or weekly life.
Be aware of how often you experience these feelings and mental vacation breaks. If they are seldom, make it a priority to create some space for more vacation breaks. However they look to you. As easy as you can. Make it an easy game. Leave the pressure behind. The idea of vacation is to leave your worries and stress behind more. See how implementing the time helps you in your everyday life. You may open your eyes more to noticing and enjoying more moments in your day! That lighter energy is good for your body, health, mind, and soul!