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Relaxation - need ideas!

This week I'm teaching a workshop on relaxation for a gathering of youth. If you read my blog regularly, you may have gathered that relaxation and managing stress are not my strong suits. I wasn't originally supposed to teach this workshop though, but circumstances have left me in charge.

Do you have inspiring ideas, creative and fun ideas for talking about relaxation with youth? Let me know!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Relaxation with YOUTH???? Are you kidding me??? What do they need to relax for? I guess vacation, recess, and holidays are hard chores in life. Tell them to get a job and contribute to the American GDP and tax base!!!!

Send them to north Alabama. I got picks, shovels, hoes, and lawnmowers, and axes for them to manage stress with. LOL.

Okay, I'm sorry, I don't have any real ideas.
7:55 PM
Rev Paul Martin said…
Sorry, Beth. I am as unsuited as you to this one. I guess I'd use myself as an example of what to avoid. Can't think of anything more helpful!
3:06 AM
Anonymous said…
Some youth are really stressed, so I think they need a session on relaxing. I could have used one when I was in high school. As a college student and pastor, I am finally beginning to learn how important self care is.

If I were you, I would teach on self care and not just relaxing, since I think self care subsumes the act of relaxing.

Some people find exercise relaxing, and for people who do, it may be helpful to incorporate prayer into the physical activity. Lately, I have been doing stretches while I pray, and it helps me be more focused on my praying and my stretching.

Prayer is both active and restful for me. I'm not a person who does it right away in the morning or immediately before bed. Instead, my set-aside quiet time is somewhere in the middle of the day. Today, it was at 4:30 pm. Yesterday, it was 10:00 am. It is way to withdraw from the day and focus on God for a while. Feeling relaxed is a side effect of good quiet time.

I saw a church sign once that said, "If you're too busy to pray, you're too busy." I think that simple but true quotation underlies why I believe relaxation, self care, and prayer are so interrelated.

I hope this helps!
9:12 PM
Melissa said…
I would research meditation techniques; even 10 minutes of silence in a day can make a huge difference! One of the professors in the CLA at Drew ran a meditation group that I participated in, and he made it a policy to have three to five minutes of silence with his students before the start of every class. The students all responded very positively, saying that this was the only time that they had to just sit and be present and empty their minds. It was the only silence they got the whole day!
10:39 PM
Anonymous said…
Laughter is best stress relief for my kids besides exercise. Check out some great ideas at this link http://winn.com/bs/ also known as Barking Spider (no not what you think. Get a good old funny movie and whatch in a dark room with popcorn. Build and fly some kits. Toss a Frisbee.
12:43 PM
gavin richardson said…
i'd suggest using some prayer practices to help relax, that works for our youth. they dig controlled breathing, silence works, but lectio readings very slow help as well as centering prayer.

stretching works out as well.

good luck
3:28 PM
Questing Parson said…
Listen carefully! I speak from experience!

RETIRE
12:10 AM
John said…
I plug in my PlayStation and start shooting things. I wonder if the teens have heard of this hobby.
3:13 PM
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