This month I’m participating in the A to Z Challenge, blogging every day of the month of April, except Sundays, on a topic from A to Z. I’m posting short-form topics meant to get you talking and sharing! Join the discussion in the comments.

Somehow I’ve internalized a mode of being where I feel like I must be productive at all times. Any time I’m not doing something I’ve deemed “useful”, a sense of guilt lingers at the pit of my stomach. I struggle with a sense of overwhelm almost all the time. And yet the truth is that I can get more done faster than I think, when I set aside my fear and worry and put my head in it.

I spent five days in Iceland in March. The first four days were jam-packed with tours, city walking, climbing to tops of waterfalls, bus riding, ice cave exploring, lava caving, and more. We went from one thing to the next, cramming in as many sights and adventures as we could manage. On the last day, we woke up a bit later and went to the Blue Lagoon, a beautiful bright blue geothermal spa, before heading to the airport for our flight out.

I hadn’t thought I would care much for it and almost considered spending more time in Reykjavik instead. I’m not much of a swimmer and I don’t like hot tubs. I get pruney fingers fast and I hate that feeling. But my friend talked me into it and I’m so glad he did.

That spa made me feel good, in a deep, primeval way that I haven’t previously experienced. I don’t know if it was the hot water or whatever strange and unusual minerals are in it or what, but I was renewed. I was toasty warm for the whole rest of the day, despite taking a flight with a temperature set at Polar Ice Cap. I felt relaxed, unhurried, and unworried. Normally I’m a mess of anxiety when I travel, what with security regulations, timing issues, being crowded into small spaces, etc. But not this time. I sailed through not only the flight home, but the jet lag after.

What’s your Blue Lagoon? What do you dismiss in your life as not practical or something you won’t like that actually benefits you? How do you teach yourself to relax? What methods do you use for letting go for a few minutes?