[ENFP] ENFP/NF's what kind of activities help you relax?

[thinkinjazz]

What kind of activities help you sleep at night too (and I don't mean chemical stuff)?

 

[TickTock]

I wish I knew. Meditation helps a bit.

 

[thinkinjazz]

Sleep comes easily if I've had a busy day, but for now I have to sit and take notes and study. Ken Burns helps too, he makes the world feel beautiful and fuzzy = ).

 

[ergophobe]

I read something fun and usually watch a couple scenes from a film I know well - I know the scenes so I can just listen to the dialogue and slowly drift off...

 

[SciVo]

Running in the morning. I've worked my way up to 2.75 miles in 22 minutes. I'm still seeing improvement every week; the main thing is that I need to do it more often.

 

[entropie]

I built that myself

 

[thinkinjazz]

Lol- nice- I don't think i own any legos anymore though. Do you think enfps have a harder time relaxing than most other types because of all the stimulus they take in?

 

[Amargith]

Mmm..I tend to just stay up wayyyy late till I fall asleep on my keyboard..not the best solution.

I'd say the best way (but not the most fun), is to stay away from people, make sure you've done a work-out during the day and even in the evening if you can, and cozy up with a hot drink while reading something, or watching some tv. Anything involving interaction and people will get you hyper again, so don't even go there. A book is nice coz you can skip that 'God, I'm bored and now I have to go sleep'-stage by staying in that nice fantasy world while you get ready for bed and fall asleep.


If you feel really wired while in bed, seeing the minutes tick by, a relaxation meditation usually works as well. It's where you use a meditation to check each muscle in your body and you consciously release that muscle. At the end you kinda feel like you're sinking into your matras. Kinda the grown-up version of counting sheep, I'd say.

 

[lamp]

start drinking early

or

get a lot of exercise / dont nap / dont sleep much the night before

more seriously: stick to a schedule of sorts for the evening. Do not get dragged into unplanned wild stuff if you need to sleep, instead stick to your boring plan <- wild stuffs are important.

as far as relaxation: find someone to run their fingernails across your scalp, rest your bare feet on some warm concrete/rock, sit down and write out your thoughts (dont make a to-do list)

 

[cafe]

Reading or listening to a novel on my iPod. If I have something to keep my brain busy it is more willing to STFU and let me sleep.

I also take a very small dose of melatonin supplement.

Which I now read is illegal in Germany and I think I sent some with my daughters when they visited family stationed there a few years ago. Oops!

 

[SciVo]

I also take a very small dose of melatonin supplement.

Which I now read is illegal in Germany and I think I sent some with my daughters when they visited family stationed there a few years ago. Oops!

Ack! If anyone else is in the position of wanting to do that, just send 5-HTP instead. It's metabolized into serotonin which is metabolized into melatonin, and can be quite effective... so much so that it needs to be kept out of the hands of children, as overdose is a real concern.

 

[BlackCat]

Listen to music, play a video game, talk to people, go to the gym, go on the internet.

 

[LunaIndigo]

For me, the sleep timer on my TV is my best friend. I just get up in bed and get all cozy, put the TV on something decent, put the sleep timer on for an hour, watch said program for a good ten minutes, roll over so that my back is facing the TV, listen to the dialogue and slowly drift off. I generally like to find something that doesn't have a lot of comercial breaks because the commercials are generally louder than the actual program so I try to find an all right movie late at night.

 

[dani_elle]

Listen to soothing music, massages. Actually I'm quite the night owl so I take ages to fall asleep.

 

[Liminality]

Do other NFs (particularly INFPs) find they need major distraction from their own brain when trying to sleep?

Why has no one said masturbation yet?

I'd say, for sleeping,
Listening to music,
Drinking warm milk half an hour before bed,
OHMYGOD massages...although I'm a bit ultra consious of other people touching and being close to me, it's wonderful when I stop spazzing.
Reading,
Having some kind of background noise far away,

I ditto the not being abe to relax, these things kinda do though...
Reading/watching shonen-ai , ocassionally shoujo-ai, it's really soothing for me,
Being around babies, small children and animals,
Eating nice food, it's got to be INSANELY good though,
Buying books (>_> I have to avoid bookshops),
Being close to nature - walking in the lake district, or swimming in the sea style,
Walking/jogging,
Dancing, No in clubs, like Flamenco, or Ballet.
Knitting,
When I can just get stuck into an artwork and listen to music,
Going on holiday with this 'safe' family.

EDIT: I'd forgotten playing music - when I can learn a song I love and play it obsessively for several hours - the first movement of Moonlight sonata is one of the major ones.

 

[Charmed Justice]

I sit outside in my back yard when I can't sleep at night. I just look up at the sky and get lost it the vastness of it all. Hearing the crickets and just being outside at night generally puts me at ease.

Sometimes I'll get in my jacuzzi and just listen to music. The water and all that is soothing, I often fall asleep in there.

 

[BlueScreen]

Lying outside at night staring up at the stars, standing out in storms, looking out to sea, sitting in total silence and blackness, looking off mountains into the distance, watching crazy rivers, writing, photography, maths, music. The infinite, powerful, complex and uncontrollable really grab me.

 

[LEGERdeMAIN]

intercourse is the best. I always get the best sleep afterwards. watching a boring tv show, listening to indie or acoustic guitar or classical. meditation helps, but sometimes I can't focus. Playing music helps too.

I write short stories and I write "better" between 11pm and 4am, so I actually don't mind if I stay up late since the only consequence is being tired at work all day, which helps me get to bed the next night.

 

[flameskull95]

I honestly try not to think of anything. - if that's not relaxation, then I probably don't know what it is.

 

[Wonkavision]

Nothing relaxes me more than seeing a good movie at the theater.

When I need to decompress after a long day at work, that's usually the first thing I want to do.

Though the passive nature of watching a movie is what helps me to decompress, the movie still needs to be mentally or emotionally stimulating---which, for me, tends to be Indie, Art House, Drama, etc.