By Alex Lauricio

You lie in front of the doorstep—back tired from carrying the heavy burdens of everyday living, and your body is bruised and battered from the physical demands of the day. A warm welcome and a parent’s smile greets you as you make a beeline straight into your room. From then on, one question plagues your mind: “What now?”

Within these walls, the world is pretty much your oyster—and how one person decides to unwind is completely up to you. You might spend an hour or two in front of a screen, or dull out the surrounding noise by listening to music. Treat yourself to a reward for surviving the day, and give yourself a moment of reprieve to satisfy your cravings from the fridge.

Let’s face it: the only thing that can overhaul the mundaneness of everyday routine is the stuff we do outside of these set routines. We go to school, then pack our bags to go back home. What we do after that is a mystery, one that we unravel on our own. Maybe the comforting thought of cotton beds and pillows allure you to survive the grind of the day, but that is only one of many ways to give ourselves self-care and unwind.

You wouldn’t want to not take care of yourself, wouldn’t you?

Here are a couple of ways to show yourself some love after an arduous day:

Rest. Take a nap, or knock yourself out in bed. The weighted blankets are fortunately unlike the weights you’ve carried on your shoulders during the day. Turn on the fan and wait until rain drizzles outside—once the rain starts to pelt the roof, it’s a sweet lullaby for you to sleep away. (Best done after a long, hot shower once you’ve gone back home.)

Eat. Ah, a classic. We all have earthly cravings for things that grace our noses and taste buds. Some of us resign ourselves to eating sweets when stressed, while others prefer to take a local trip to the convenience mart or sari-sari store for a bag of chips. Take heed, however, that indulging too much may result in stress eating, which can be unhealthy if food is your only solace from stress.

You can hit two birds with one stone and improve your cooking skills by designating yourself to clean up after your culinary masterpieces—or mistakes. Whether it be the classic instant noodles we’re all familiar with, sweet chocolate, or even just plain bubblegum—you’re free to treat yourself as a reward.

Listening to music on the other hand, can help boost productivity while doing other things. Minutes turn into hours as you jump from song to song, soon finishing entire playlists—just make sure that the playlist you’ve set isn’t Taylor Swift’s Speak Now, or else you might finish the entire day only listening to her album. While you’re at it, why not sing as well? 

We have all sung in the shower while everyone else pretended that they didn’t hear your voice (it sounds amazing, trust me) —lyrics of Taylor Swift’s songs muffled by the running water echoing in the four corners of the bathroom. We have all held mini-concerts in these private havens, using combs and shower heads as mics and flashing ourselves a good smile in the mirror. 

Or maybe you’re not into productivity, and just want some audio accompaniment as you stare into the ceiling. That’s good too.

Have hobbies? Then you might want to pour what little time you have after school or work to them. Whether you’re a gym rat, a plantitx, an avid book reader or film watcher, the entire world is pretty much open to whatever you want to do. It’s just hard to find time to actually do them.

If you have pets, maybe you’d accept their invitation to play around with them after you go home. Nothing beats having someone wait an entire day just to see you—and that’s how most pets feel when we go back home after being in school all day. It’s hard to actually see them smile, but their grin seems the largest when they hear the door open. 

In the same vein, maybe it’s not a pet—but a person, or even a group of friends. Maybe some of us have prior commitments or have a set schedule for our bebe times. Spend a couple of minutes catching up with their day, or the next hour or two on call being excited about the mundaneness of tomorrow. Try to check the group chat you have with your circle of friends to learn about the latest chika and school happenings.

However, if none of these options work out for you, then you might want to take a step back and think about whether you’re getting enough time to take care of yourself after a tough day. Some of us work long hours, wake really early, then go home pretty late—but we all have to try our best in ensuring that we take care of ourselves.

So, ASHS, how do you unwind?