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Engaging activity to switch off?

seekeraftertruth

Hello, 

I don't have any activity or hobby that helps me turn my brain off. My hobbies are reading and playing video games but I tend to find games quite tense, so although I play them, I don't feel relaxed during or afterwards, even though I tend to play adventure games or RPGs (so, it's not fast or shooty games that I play).

I think I would find detail work quite relaxing. I tried drawing a map like this guy: https://youtu.be/63DZ7nLpSDE

but it wasn't very relaxing. I think maybe looking at a map like that really close up might be quite relaxing, like having my face really close to it so it fills my vision and I can see detail or trace pathways through the city.

I once got a new board game and spent an hour sorting all the different components into small plastic bags very relaxing (I didn't realise whilst doing it, because I was so engaged in it, it was only when I sat back at the end when I noticed how relaxed I was, it literally felt like I'd just spent the entire day at a spa).

I'm looking for an activity I can do to make me feel like that. I think it will be something I can do at the kitchen table and without a screen (I want to switch off so I'd be happy if it was done on paper). 

Does anyone have any suggestions for things I can do, or what you do? Happy to take suggestions from psychologists too, if there's something obvious I can try. 

Thanks. 

Parents

  • Various things over the years.

    With video games, I found it depends on the game itself, I don't have much time these days to play them, if I wanted to relax I would aim towards more turn based or RP based where it's interaction based rather than reaction based. Still I wouldn't call it the zen centredness that NT's seem to get when "relaxing", I don't think I'm capable.

    I tried mindfulness meditation for ages, like a square peg in a round hole I kept trying at that as my CBT therapist loved it. This was before my ASD was diagnosed, years before. I would either get bored, my mind would go on an adventure (very often to places I woudn't want it to go) or I would fall asleep.

    I paint miniatures and I do leatherwork (the latter not for a while as I don't have time for projects atm). With leatherwork, I do carving and pattern work very intricate.

    Another thing I do a lot at the moment, I bought a cheap pair of bluetooth noise cancelling headphones (£20 from Amazon). I will listen to music, or audiobooks, or even just Youtube while doing house work or cooking. There are various activities, like cooking that are helpful, with my headphones on, other things are sharpening my knives, or organising something (alphabetising my DVD's helped one time and just gives me satisfaction when I can look to my collection and immediately see the one I'm looking for).

    In all these things, I wouldn't say they were truly "relaxing" like NT's would say, I don't think I'm truly capable of that, I'm just not wired that way. I would say they help me "zone out" and forget the world and focus on one thing. I think that's my relaxing, take something I can control, control it, shut out the world for a bit.

Reply

  • Various things over the years.

    With video games, I found it depends on the game itself, I don't have much time these days to play them, if I wanted to relax I would aim towards more turn based or RP based where it's interaction based rather than reaction based. Still I wouldn't call it the zen centredness that NT's seem to get when "relaxing", I don't think I'm capable.

    I tried mindfulness meditation for ages, like a square peg in a round hole I kept trying at that as my CBT therapist loved it. This was before my ASD was diagnosed, years before. I would either get bored, my mind would go on an adventure (very often to places I woudn't want it to go) or I would fall asleep.

    I paint miniatures and I do leatherwork (the latter not for a while as I don't have time for projects atm). With leatherwork, I do carving and pattern work very intricate.

    Another thing I do a lot at the moment, I bought a cheap pair of bluetooth noise cancelling headphones (£20 from Amazon). I will listen to music, or audiobooks, or even just Youtube while doing house work or cooking. There are various activities, like cooking that are helpful, with my headphones on, other things are sharpening my knives, or organising something (alphabetising my DVD's helped one time and just gives me satisfaction when I can look to my collection and immediately see the one I'm looking for).

    In all these things, I wouldn't say they were truly "relaxing" like NT's would say, I don't think I'm truly capable of that, I'm just not wired that way. I would say they help me "zone out" and forget the world and focus on one thing. I think that's my relaxing, take something I can control, control it, shut out the world for a bit.

Children
  • in reply to An0therMichael

    This is interesting. Both you and @out_of_step suggest something where you can just focus in on doing one thing. I guess this is something we're good at. I think I need to find something that utterly absorbs me, that's why I thought intricate work would be the answer. But I haven't found that thing yet (other than bagging up the game components, but I think that was a one-off, a combination of repetition and sorting).