Best Excuse Ever to Be Lazy

Being lazy has its own national holiday in the U.S. — and no, we don’t mean every day of the year. It’s officially celebrated on Wednesday, Aug. 10. Even just hearing about it feels relaxing.

The originators of this national American holiday are unknown — perhaps they were too chilled out to even record the genesis of their efforts.

“Relaxation is perhaps the single most important key to health and well-being.”

“Only in America,” laughed one father and grandfather from Baltimore, Maryland. “It looks like many younger folks think this is a daily holiday. I met a young man the other day who said he wished he could get a motorized hammock so that he could ‘swing harder’ while relaxing. All I could do was shake my head and laugh.”

Even if you don’t turn off the phone and make a beeline for the couch in order to Netflix your way through this official opportunity to do nothing — there are some benefits to powering down.

“Relaxation is perhaps the single most important key to health and well-being,” according to heartofhealing.net. “It is the antidote to stress, which is known to contribute to the development of disease. When we relax, our body has an opportunity to unwind. The benefits of relaxation have been well researched.”

The physiological benefits of relaxing include giving the heart a rest by slowing the heart rate, reducing blood pressure, slowing the rate of breathing (which reduces the need for oxygen), increasing blood flow to the muscles, and decreasing muscle tension, according to heartofhealing.net.

[lz_bulleted_list title=”Most Productive Ways to Be Lazy” source=”http://www.timeanddate.com”]Declare chores off-limits for the day.|Order food in instead of cooking.|Catch up on favorite TV shows.|Go to a spa without guilt.|Don’t take emails or phone calls.|Watch the 1929 comedy, “Lazy Day.”[/lz_bulleted_list]

This leads to more energy in the long run, better sleep, enhanced immunity, increased concentration, better problem-solving abilities, less pain, and fewer headaches — and greater efficiency with daily tasks.

Seeing the mental and physical health benefits is a good reminder that all Americans need to take some time every day to take a few deep breaths and relax. Due to a stagnant economy in which fewer jobs are available, those Americans who do have jobs are working harder than ever to hang onto what they have — or they’re out pounding the streets and working the phones and the internet, trying to cobble together part-time opportunities.

“Americans work more than anyone in the industrialized world,” according to a report by ABC News, “more than the English, more than the French, way more than the Germans or Norwegians — even, recently, more than the Japanese. And Americans take less vacation, work longer days, and retire later, too.”

[lz_ndn video=31140182]

So if you can do it, celebrate National Lazy Day — at least a little bit. Even if it means taking a few meditative breaths during a coffee break, or playing a favorite CD during the commute home, go for it. Enjoy that forbidden candy bar, or grab the family dog and take a hike, which will relax you both.

For one day only, enjoy being a “holiday-sanctioned” lazybones. And if you can’t do it today — do it on the weekend.

But do it.