People Share Things That Aren't Therapy But Certainly Feel Like It

The term self care is used a lot today in relation to mental health.

Formal therapy and medication can be extremely effective and are sometimes a necessity, but other things a person can do on their own can also provide calm and comfort.

Reddit user Radiant-Assumption53 asked:

"What's something that isn't therapy, but feels like therapy?"

Talking With Friends

"A good talk with a friend isn't therapy, but sure feels like it."

~ PM_me_TitsOfAnySize

"My therapist once told me that a great therapy session is about as effective as a good talk with a friend."

~ scrubjays

Forest Solitude

"Walking into the woods and bathing in the sunlight and coolness."

"There’s something about trees that gives me a sense of calm."

~ Total_Aerie_3778

"In German, 'being alone in the woods' is expressed as 'Waldeinsamkeit'—a word combining 'Wald' (forest) and 'Einsamkeit' (loneliness or solitude), signifying the feeling of peaceful solitude while in the forest alone."

"So nice."

~ dlblast

Giphy

Personal Day

"My favorite self-care day starts with putting my phone on do not disturb. Next is getting a haircut and beard trim at the local barbershop."

"Then I go home and rinse off. Hit the gym. And then hit up a bakery for a croissant."

"I finish the afternoon with a trip to see a movie by myself with a big sugary drink and a bag of popcorn that I pour M&M's into."

"I don't tell anybody I took the day off from work."

~ finite_digress

Arts & Crafts

"Crafting."

"When you get in the zone it’s like meditation."

"For me, quilting by hand does the trick."

~ CursingWhileCrafting

"That’s me with drawing. I can get lost for a solid hour and think only 5-10 mins went by. Speaking of that, honestly I should go back to drawing again."

"Been so f*cking high strung lately, could use the calming down."

~ Competitive-Bid-2914

"I have found this with crochet."

"I'm still relatively new to it, but I've gotten into a flow state a few times now working on something simple (no counting stitches), and it feels SO therapeutic."

~ FebruaryInk

Ocean Surf

"Being around the ocean has the same feeling for me."

"Nature is rad, it’s such a shame we don’t respect it more."

~ New_Citizen

"I always lived near the sea."

"Then 6 years ago, I moved someplace that is 500km from the nearest sea. Lakes just aren't the same for me."

"The rare times I get to the sea now, I feel completely recharged."

~ zerokey

Giphy

🎵 Don’t Want To Be, All By Myself...🎶

"Alone time."

~ sleepingrusher

"As a mom with two kids and a puppy, there is no drug as good as a quiet house."

~ hokoonchi

"This. With a wife and two younger kids, those random days where you have a few hours to yourself in the house are priceless."

~ eoncire

Home

"When I get home from work and my wife picks up our 5 month old boy so he can see me approach, and he does a full-face wide-mouthed squinty-eyed smile once he sees me."

"It resets my entire soul."

"On a similar thread, once he is asleep and my wife is asleep and I have cleaned the kitchen and reset the house for the next day, I feel like I'm crossing some kind of finish line."

~ Phals_Faltor

Laughter

"Laughing so hard with a friend that your stomach muscles ache."

~ Middle-Cranberry-792

"Especially old friends."

"I have made a lot of new friends in the past few years from starting a new job and they are great, but I spent time with a friend of over 20 years the other day."

"There is just something special about spending time laughing with someone that truly knows you."

~ Expensive_Repair2735

Giphy

Tidy Home, Tidy Mind

" Cleaning and organizing, it’s oddly therapeutic for my mind."

~ bunnybreeb

"My house is never cleaner then when I am angry or frustrated. I rage clean."

~ Sam_English821

"I saved a quote to my phone that says something along the lines of 'If she randomly gets up and starts cleaning, it's not because the house is messy, it's because her mind is' and that is so true for me."

~ Reddit

Gardening

"Gardening. I cannot speak to the WHY of it, but in numerous real world settings, such as post-WW2 refugee camps, people who participated in gardening found their way back to health at a rate far greater than those who did not."

~ venturebirdday

"I gardened with my mom when I was younger, then stopped for a long time. When I moved somewhere with actual land, I wanted to garden again, but it took me several years.

"But last year I finally did and it felt so good!"

"I think it's a combo of having a tangible result to your work, the idea that you are helping something live/grow/do better."

"And I don't know what to call it, but I remember thinking about how what I was planting wasn't going to bloom until next year and that means I'm thinking about and planning for and looking forward to the future which was completely out of the picture in my worst depression."

~ unsettledinky

Pets

"Being cuddled by a purring cat."

"Nothing feels more soothing to me than warm, feline snuggles."

~ MMohawMais

"Coming home to my 2 big dogs just exploding with excitement, then wrestling, then bouncing around me, then wrestling some more, then bouncing around me again is so great."

"There's usually a cat perched somewhere, waiting for a scratch while trying to stay out of the way of 240 pounds of dog bumbling their way around."

~ JohnnyDarkside

"Spending time with my 26 year old horse, who is healthy and thriving thanks to all the work I’ve done with her."

~ LeadfootLesley

Giphy

Music Hath Charms...

"I don’t know why, but listening to Frank Sinatra’s music calms me down, even in rush hour traffic."

~ CompetitivePanic9838

"Taking a long shower with my favorite playlist blasting. Something about the hot water and belting out lyrics just washes away all the stress from my day. Works better than any therapy session I've had."

~ SeductiveNsexy

"Attending a live concert. Something about the energy and feeling the music can do a hard reset."

~ serendipitycmt1

"Very loud and off-key car karaoke."

~ Money_Parfait_75

Bread Baking

"Baking bread from scratch."

"Something about kneading dough for 10 minutes straight just hits different."

"Plus, my apartment smells amazing and I get to stress eat warm bread after. Win-win."

~ TemptingSunflower

"I make challah every Christmas so that I can make stuffing with it. It's an all-day effort, but you're so right."

"The smell, the warm bread, the kneading. It's so rewarding."

~ spork_o_rama

"Especially when you get the moisture content down so that it's perfectly elastic and not sticky.

"It's a silly thing, but it makes me feel accomplished. 'This dough turned out well. Hell yeah!'."

~ Mercadi

"Who needs a stress ball when you have bread dough?"

~ jhendricks86

Exercise

"For me it's exercise, being able to turn off my brain while listening to music and exerting all of my energy into something positive is something I wouldn't be able to find in anything else really except fitness."

~ Hades7119

"For me, it's lifting; go down to my gym, crank the tunes, and start lifting weights; in about 15 min, the world is great again!"

"If I miss a few workouts, everything just starts to low key suck."

"But it's gotta be lifting! If I do a bunch of intense cardio, I get quiet and feel just a little sour."

~ Expensive-Papaya3341

Giphy

Rural Life

"I grew up in the countryside. Then moved into a city."

"Finally moved back to a more rural area. It's so nice to sit on my deck and not hear any signs of people."

"It's still a town, so there are occasional sounds, but there's not the constant drone of traffic, sirens, and everything else."

"Then at night, I keep my window cracked while sleeping so I just hear the crickets and frogs."

~ JohnnyDarkside

What feels like therapy to you?