Everyone has to deal with stress from time to time. It's important to look after ourselves and to take time to relax though. This helps keep us motivated and from getting burnt out.
Here you will find lots of phrases that will help you talk about stress and relaxation, and enable you to find out how others deal with stress. Maybe you'll even be inspired to try something new as you learn? Let's get started and improve your German!
Relax with Meditative Music
Relax with the Sounds of Nature: River
Relax with the Sounds of Nature: Wind
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Here you will find lots of phrases that will help you talk about stress and relaxation, and enable you to find out how others deal with stress. Maybe you'll even be inspired to try something new as you learn? Let's get started and improve your German!
Talking About Relaxing
Do you enjoy swimming, going for walks, or doing yoga? These sentences will help you discuss different ways you and others relax. Have a look at them and get ready for your next conversation in German!
 German
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 English
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|---|---|
| What do you like to do to relax? | |
| How do you chill out after work? | |
| What do you do to relieve stress? | |
| I usually watch TV. | |
| I like to write. | |
| I relax by listening to music. | |
| I chill out by cooking and listening to music. | |
| Meditation is an awesome stress reliever. | |
| Have you ever tried yoga? | |
| Do you ever go to the gym to relax? | |
| How long have you been doing yoga? |
Normalerweise schaue ich fern
An easy way to describe how you relax is to use this sentence pattern Normalerweise + AKTIVITÄT + ich. You could say something like this for example: Normalerweise lese ich. There are of course different ways to respond to a sentence like this, but here is one example: Ich finde Lesen auch sehr entspannend!.
Ich entspanne mich, indem ich Musik höre
One way to talk about how you relax is to use the sentence pattern Ich entspanne mich, indem ich + AKTIVITÄT. Here is an example of this: Ich entspanne mich, indem ich mit Freunden telefoniere. By switching Ich entspanne mich, indem out for Ich chille, indem you can make your sentence much more informal and colloquial. Our example would then look like this: Ich chille, indem ich mit Freunden telefoniere. Here is one way somebody could respond to this sentence: Ich mache das auch gerne.
Idioms and Other Sayings
German has loads of idioms that you can use when talking about relaxing. We've gathered the most common ones in the table below. Take a look and try using some to sound more like a native speaker!|
German
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English
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|---|---|
| I need a personal day. | |
| At least now you can let your hair down for a bit. | |
| I need to take a breather. | |
| I'm just going to kick back now and watch the game. | |
| It's time to just read and recharge my batteries. | |
| It helps me tune out the world for a bit. | |
| It's a great way to turn off my mind. |
Ich brauche einen Tag für mich
This is the kind of day when you take time to look after yourself and do just what you want to do, like enjoy a long bath, watch your favorite show all day, or go for a hike. Ich brauche einen Selbstsorge-Tag is another way to say this. Here is an example response to this sentence: Das ist eine gute Idee; du scheinst in letzter Zeit ziemlich gestresst zu sein.
Ich muss eine Verschnaufpause einlegen
This is a phrase that you could use when doing physical activities like hiking, gardening, or power yoga. It means that you need a short break to relax for a minute. One way that somebody might respond to this is: Ja, ich denke, wir sollten alle eine kurze Pause von 15 Minuten einlegen, dann können wir die Sitzung wieder aufnehmen.
Ich werde mich jetzt einfach zurücklehnen und mir das Spiel ansehen
Here is another common German saying. sich zurücklehnen means the same thing as sich entspannen. There are two other ways that could be used to say our example sentence: Ich lasse es jetzt einfach ruhig angehen und schaue mir das Spiel an and Ich lege jetzt einfach die Füße hoch und sehe mir das Spiel an. An example response to this sentence is: Bevor du es dir gemütlich machst, kannst du mir mit dem Abendessen helfen?.
Es ist an der Zeit, einfach zu lesen und meine Batterien wieder aufzuladen
Seine Batterien wieder aufladen is another German idiom that means you need some time to relax and recover. Think of how a phone's battery, for example, eventually runs out and needs to be recharged. Humans basically work the same way. Sometimes we just need to stop and take time to recharge our own batteries. One way somebody could respond to this sentence is: Okay, dann werde ich dich in Ruhe lassen.
Es hilft mir, die Welt ein wenig auszublenden
Die Welt ausblenden is similar to the verb abschalten. Both mean to block out everything negative and stressful around you so that you can relax better. Here is another example phrase to show how you could use this: Musik zu hören hilft mir einfach, die Welt für einen Moment auszublenden. One way to respond to this sentence is: Ja, Musik zu hören ist eine tolle Möglichkeit, alles auszublenden, was vor sich geht.
Es ist eine großartige Möglichkeit, abzuschalten
Like die Welt ausblenden, the word abschalten is used when you want to describe not thinking about things that cause stress so that you can relax for a bit. After a long and stressful day, you could say something like Ich muss nur ein bisschen abschalten und mich beruhigen for example. Another way to say this is: Ich muss mich nur ein wenig ablenken und mich beruhigen. There are several ways to respond to this, but here is one example: Dann lasse ich dich in Ruhe, aber wenn du etwas brauchst, lass es mich einfach wissen.
Relax while Listening to the Phrases
Keep calm and learn German! Listen to the phrases again with relaxing background music. This will help you improve your listening skills and remember the phrases. Choose your favorite style, then kick back and relax!
Relax with Meditative Music
Relax with the Sounds of Nature: River
Relax with the Sounds of Nature: Wind
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Phrases
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Dialogue
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Practice & Record a Dialogue
Take the next step and use what you’ve learned! Check out this topic’s dialogue unit and practice the phrases in a variety of exercises. Test your knowledge and get ready for real life conversations!
Was machst du, um dich nach einem anstrengenden Arbeitstag zu entspannen?en
Normalerweise mache ich gar nichts nach dem Arbeiten und schaue fern, aber ich habe in letzter Zeit über Meditation nachgedacht. Hast du das schon mal ausprobiert?en
Ja, ich mache zweimal die Woche Yoga. Es hilft mir wirklich, runterzukommen und zu entspannen.en
