Are you recovering properly?

This is what the nightmare looks like: a white villa on Crete, a glittering blue pool, comfortable striped upholstered beds. In the house, Ana takes care of everything. She cleans, she cooks, she washes. She puts the T-shirts together, she makes the beds for the family. And that for two weeks at a stretch. Relaxing? I hate it. It sounds so damned ungrateful that it took me years to admit it to me: The supposed dream vacation in the house of my parents-in-law makes me tickle. He challenges me. I can not relax there. Never. No minute. Strange, actually. Because if I look at my life, the daily cheating between children and career, the rush between supermarket and school, one would like to think, a little rest would be good for a change. It does not do it. And, strange as it sounds, that's no wonder.

Lazy lying around does not work

Every everyday life shapes, shapes and deforms us. His burden leads to mental and physical malpositions, makes us tired, sometimes sick. By relaxing on vacation or on weekends, our body tries to return to a status quo that makes him feel well again. "Base-Line" scientists call this state of relaxation, the ideal, undeformed starting point, before body and psyche came under stress.

Relieving tension by lazing lazily on the lounger, it usually does not work. On the contrary: no single scientific study has been able to prove "that passive idleness encourages positive feelings - unless you were very active in sports before," writes recreational expert and psychologist Christoph Eichhorn ("Good Recovery - Better Living everyday life ", Klett-Cotta-Verlag, 2006).

Full throttle at work, then turn off the stress as with a light switch: That does not work. In addition, the questions of whether and how we recover depend too much on what we need to compensate for in our lives through recovery. This is how Prof. Dr. Michael Stark the phenomenon. The chief physician of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the DRK hospital in Hamburg-cracks advises therefore to type-appropriate recovery: "Who is subject in his everyday high foreign rule, should pay attention to gaining strength and achieving their own goals."

So it would have been much better for a person with a hamster-wheel feel like me to learn a new sport or to go on a strenuous mountain hike instead of getting Ana to iron my T-shirts. "In general," says Professor Stark, "contrast experiences for everyday life are good for rest." People who do monotonous everyday work, for example, recover best when they use free time to reopen their "perception channels", says Stark. The sensuous impressions of a bazaar, the enjoyment of an exotic meal, the scent of lavender in a southern French village have a long-lasting effect on everyday life, and sharpen the eye for beauty there as well.

15 minutes of rest every day must be

The most important thing, however, is that rest should not be limited to just two weeks off per year. The idea to finally breathe again on vacation and to stubbornly endure the stressful everyday life until then, considers Professor Dr. Sabine Sonnentag from the University of Konstanz for a gross error: "Recovery must take place every day, and if it is only a quarter of an hour," is the credo of the expert. Why? Quite simply: "Stress usually swells slowly, and recovery is a process in which the body and soul gradually regenerate."

Only, how does it work? There is a rare consensus in research. First of all, every person has to be clear about what he is trying to do in everyday life and what balance he really yearns for, says Professor Sonnentag. Mountaineering or sitting in the bistro? Running or reading? The key is to take your time listening to your own body. In addition, scientists still know some factors that bring relaxation:

Relax: This is how your free time becomes a rest

Sports: Mental tension is usually reflected in a tense musculature. Soft sports such as Tai Chi, Yoga or Pilates can help. Surprisingly, endurance sports with simple movement patterns such as jogging or swimming are less suitable for shaking off stress. The reason, according to Professor Sonnentag, is that "sport is relaxing when we switch off mentally at the same time, but with practiced sequences of movements we still have an opportunity to ponder problems." Unlike team sports: "In the group you have to be fully involved and switch off in an ideal way," explains Sonnentag. Also suitable are sports that require a lot of concentration, such as archery or golf.Anyone who likes to jog or ride a bike shakes off the daily routine better if he demands the ghost - for example when playing sports in unknown terrain or during interval training.

Think positive: The thoughts are swarming all the time, racing the timeline up and down restlessly, circling memories and the future. Among them is a lot of exciting, pleasing - but also negative. Studies show that even the bad memories, the increase in anger and frustration, may be more nerve-racking than the real stress. "Whether we recover depends crucially on how we assess past, current and future events," says psychologist Eichhorn. Example work: Instead of moaning, advises Professor Sonnentag to a consciously positive attitude. If you look at what he has done on a daily basis, what he can be proud of, why he likes his job, he does a lot of good himself, a large study at their institute proved. Self-esteem is strengthened, we feel more competent when we are aware of our abilities, and a positive attitude improves our relationship to work. How wonderfully relieving!

Reduction: Reading "War and Peace", playing with the children, cooking Italian: on holiday or on weekends, we try to put in as much of the time as possible in our time, to which we otherwise do not come. And are never completely in the process. "It's only possible to get rid of those who do without," says Munich-based time researcher and economics teacher Professor Karlheinz Geissler. Only then can you focus on one thing instead of rushing mentally to the next. Distance: Out of the office - into family life. And without a break. That can not work. So fast the soul does not turn off. Much better: a small transitional ritual that runs the same every day. Walk for ten minutes on the way home. A small espresso for five minutes with blankie on the bed. Such well-rehearsed actions signal the brain: Now is the time to switch off.

Order: "Stuffed, messy rooms make you tired," warns Professor Stark. "Eliminate disorder, separate yourself from superfluous things, clear your home and life." Especially in the bedroom: "The first thing you see after waking up is the mood of the day, so it's better that your first look is a beautiful picture than a pile of unsorted laundry."

Sleep: It lowers the temperature of the body, ensures that the muscles relax. Sleep is only really relaxing if the outside conditions are right. And that includes a darkened room - even with closed eyes, light penetrates through the eyelids. However, both light and noise can interfere with slumber, even if sleep is not interrupted directly.

Social relationships: Nothing makes tension disappear faster than laughing, exercising, eating with others. That showed a large US study. But especially in times of stress, we often switch back a gear - just the wrong thing. Banal, but even in stress possible: Letters, faxes, exchange e-mails.