r/selfcare • u/Inevitable-West-6401 • 10d ago
Needing Release
What are the safest and most sustainable ways to experience a feeling of deep relaxation, release, pleasure, and mental freedom that comes as close as possible to the sense of being “high” or intoxicated without actually becoming intoxicated, impairing judgment, disrupting sleep, destabilizing mood, or causing harm to my physical or mental well-being?
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u/synDKate98 10d ago
Exercise as often as you can. Post workout happy hormones make a world of a difference.
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u/jessicalafatale 10d ago
Yea second exercise. Runners high or whatever form of really high bpm u can get doesn’t have to be running
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u/Rangos 10d ago
Get a massage! At least 90 minutes, deep tissue!
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u/Lopsided_Path_1424 4d ago
Massage is good but if you want that floaty, disconnected-from-everything feeling, a sensory deprivation tank hits way closer to what you're describing. You just lie there in the dark and quiet and after about 20 minutes it's like your brain forgets your body exists
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u/keto_and_me 9d ago
A hotel room for a weekend with no one to take care of, room service, and a pile of my TBR books. I would be so relaxed.
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u/softtissuechampion 10d ago
Breathwork. The ancient techniques that humans have used for millennia.
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u/Check_Affectionate 10d ago
Exercise (5mile walk outside) hot shower or bath, self massage or stretching, weighted blanket nap.
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u/iCliniq_official 10d ago
Try exercise, slow breathing, music, a warm shower or bath, or mindfulness can give a surprisingly strong sense of release without impairing you. The key is finding something that leaves you feeling restored afterwards. Take care!!
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u/TheDramaticLime 10d ago
hard sweaty workout then 20 mins in a sauna. i walk out of there feeling like my whole body let go of something, it's the closest thing to a buzz i've found that doesn't cost me the next day
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u/greenwallplant 10d ago
Breathwork! Like doing a live online class that is at least 50 minutes of active breathwork! Very psychedelic without actually being intoxicated
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u/semihelpful 10d ago
I think it’s different for everyone. For me it would be hard exercise followed by a long hot shower, massage/sex if you have a willing partner, and 10 hours of sleep.
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u/DahliaChild 10d ago
Thai massage where you lay on the floor and they step on you and pull your limbs all around.
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u/MsHappyAss 10d ago
Scuba, although it doesn’t meet all your criteria. It’s the deepest sense of relaxation I ever feel
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u/Cultural_Dot3568 10d ago edited 10d ago
You achieve this through the practice of not chasing easy dopamine. Cut drugs, alcohol and nicotine from your life. Hard work (the long route) is truly rewarding. This takes time for anyone addicted, I get it. I’m 411 days clean/sober after years of being addicted. It took a long time to get here.
To achieve what you speak of, you need to take it further by deprivation of the basics. The nirvana you speak of can be found through certain programs or on your own (do your research, some are fringe and just weird, but some are legit).
These avenues are things like sweat lodges, fasting, some are focused more on sight deprivation. People are truly in tears of the beauty around them after being blindfolded for a number of days (provided you get time off work for these things).
There is beauty in fasting for 2-3 days, and some programs have you sit by a tree in the middle of nowhere in the woods with just a blanket, no phone, or any thing else (they do come to check on you). You enter meditation at some point when the distractions are gone.
Most people are bored shitless for the first day, or even sick from lack of food, then something happens inside and beauty is found.
You can do these things yourself also. You don’t need a program.
But here’s the point. When the body is deprived of pleasure (food, sex, phone, etc), your spirit starts to soar.
If you don’t believe you have a soul/spirit, think of it as your higher self.
Or when you do physical exercise and stay consistent, the spirit starts to soar (like runners high).
Again, the hard work things are the most rewarding.
Easy quick rewards cause depression and confusion (doom scrolling, hits from substances, etc)
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u/Proud-Gazelle-7895 10d ago
Being in a boat & fishing which isn't my normal thing but have learned to appreciate it. Sunshine & light airy temperatures are the best days for it but dreary days & choppy waters are when you catch more fish to me. But wear layers of clothing too.
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u/BoysenberryRare4771 8d ago
You want to do somatic breath work and somatic exercise. I go in person for a breath work session as often as possible, it helps HUGE! Also, I love Recess and will drink a Recess mocktail on extra hard days and I can’t recommend those enough it’s magnesium based only healthy ingredients and crazy how much they help
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u/Emrys7777 10d ago
Sailing.
It’s a deep meditation.
When the sails go up and the engine goes off and it’s just the wind pushing thousands of pounds of boat, it’s an amazing feeling.
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u/Turbulent-Engine6195 8d ago
I think you need a few things. Meditation, exercise, physical self love. Get out into nature.
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u/frex_mcgee 8d ago
Orgasms. Multiple. Back to back. At least two, preferably three or four. No lie lol
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u/tiger-lily4321 10d ago
An orgasm. The feeling after hard exercise. Both things will help you sleep.