Health and Happiness

Five Things to Do at the End of Each Day

MensXP.com – Fri, Sep 7, 2012 5:30 PM PHT

After a hectic day at work, all we want is a peaceful night so as to wake up fresh enough to face yet another challenging day.

However, instead of simply wrapping up the day’s work and hitting the sack, try doing certain things before you doze off. They may not totally change your life but they will certainly help make it better. Here are five things you should do at the end of each day.

Pray/Meditate

Our minds are full of thoughts, worries, and ideas the entire day. The brain is constantly at work, worrying about money, family, the upcoming T20 series (who will win), about going off to work the next day, etc, etc. You need to feel completely calm and at peace when going to bed. Praying is one way of achieving that. Just close your eyes, take deep breaths and chant a few Oms or you can chose whatever you’re comfortable with, even Gayatri Mantra. Monitor your breath, notice the way it enters and leaves your body. Thank God for all the happiness he has bestowed upon you. Thank Him for the fact that you’re still healthy, still breathing.

Mental list

Make a mental list of all the things you’ve done that day: from the time you woke up to this time in bed. Did you do something selfish? Did you hurt someone? Did you help someone in need? Did you accomplish all you had set out to accomplish that day? If not, why not? If yes, how did you do it? Think of things that went right. Think of things that went wrong. Why? How can you make them right? How could you have made your day better?

Visualise the next day

Visualise the upcoming day. Think of what you want to do in those 24 hours. Imagine good things. Imagine happiness, imagine pleasure, good times. Imagine yourself making some happy. Think positive. If you’re expecting a promotion, imagine yourself getting one. If you’re expecting exam results, visualise yourself scoring top of the class. Even if it’s as simple as going to college or work, picture yourself reaching safely, meeting your colleagues, or sharing a joke with them.

Read

Reading a book before going to bed is one of the best ways to calm your mind. It stimulates good sleep. Many people turn on their television sets, watching news or their favourite shows before bedtime. However, TV offers too much stimulus, which sort of gets your brain ticking again and keeps you awake the entire night. And lack of sleep may eventually lead to depression, irritability, bad health, obesity, lack of productivity, loss of appetite. It’s fine to watch TV as long as there is a long gap between that and when you hit the sack; at least 2 hours or so. Reading calms the nerves by eliminating excess sound and vision stimulus that TV gives off in abundance. Reading also acts as a good stress reliever. Hence, reading is the best way to relax before heading to bed.

Nice Dreams

No one likes nightmares; no one likes jumping off a building; witnessing an accident; being mauled by a lion; or rolling off a mountain. Tell yourself that you’re going to have nice, pleasant dreams. Smile before you hit the sack, have a warm glass of milk and breathe evenly. Eliminate all unpleasant thoughts from your mind; jealousy, revenge, hatred etc. Think of waterfalls, flowers, birds, puppies, anything that takes you to your happy place. If you keep repeating this over and over your mind will be conditioned to having happy dreams.