Could #LaTomatina a bizarre Spanish Festival help you reduce #stress ?
On the last Wednesday of the month, thousands of people flock to Bunol, near Valencia in Spain, for the ‘World’s Biggest food Fight’. So, is La Tomatina just a silly excuse for a celebration, or could it have hidden benefits, like reducing stress and tension? I suspect this seemingly silly event is actually an excellent way to release pent-up stress, suppressed anger and tension in a positive, therapeutic way. For a start, throwing food is something most of us haven’t done since we were children, (or even babies) and being able to let off steam in this way, gets us back in touch with that pure sense of child-like fun and silliness. Most of us go through our days dwelling on our cares, worries and fears, expending a great deal of energy in worrying about the future or replaying past events. Engaging in something completely silly, like a food fight, allows us to be completely presently in the joy of the moment. It’s an active (even aerobic) way to release stress too and most importantly, it makes us laugh, both at ourselves, and with others, so it has a social aspect and also, we ‘allow’ ourselves to lighten up, to reconnect with the joy of simply letting ourselves go for a short time.
Of course, throwing tomatoes at other people (or even at the theatre) is not something we can do in our daily lives! So, how can we unleash ‘La Tomatina’ that is buried inside each and every one of us on a regular basis? Well, that’s the true ‘zest’ in Less Stress More Zest. It’s about doing things that are joyful. Your Tomatina may be singing at the top of your voice, or making time to paint, or going for a run, or walking in the countryside, or kicking a ball around with a couple of friends, or spending time with your children, or grand children, or watching your favourite funny movie, or dancing flat out for five minutes, or relaxing in bath with oils and candlelight and music… you see, La Tomatina exists in each of us, we all have the ability to choose to live in the moment, to be joyful, to let off steam and to relax and unwind. No, it’s not always easy to do but, hey, it’s not rocket science either.
