Sit Down And Shut Up

Just about everybody loves a stroll along the shore or a walk in the park. Being closer to nature is something that helps many people feel more at peace. Taking yourself out of your busy schedule and going for a walk is one of the best things you can do for yourself. One of the reasons nature feels so natural is that it’s at peace with itself. The trees, the animals, from the ants to the bears, have a certain inner peace that people seem to have lost along the way. Taking a walk in the woods can help restore some of that lost peace.

If you live in the suburbs or the country just sitting in your backyard can bring you closer to nature. Take off the headset, turn off the ipod, mp3 or whatever and just listen to the sounds around you. Birds, breezes through the trees, dogs barking, distant cars, it’s all part of what’s out there. When you drown out your thoughts with music, and chit chat, you’re drowning out your inner voice.

You are a naturally intuitive person. We all are. So many of us don’t take the time to listen to ourselves. By spending time with nature and yourself you may begin to hear that little voice guide you. There isn’t a person out there who can’t find this part of them self. Some of us have spent a great deal of time and effort drowning out our true consciousness. Our true consciousness is that part of us that knows instinctively what makes us happy. Unless you are deathly allergic to plant matter, nature is a place you can begin to reconnect with your true self.

On your walk notice all of the signs of life around you. The trees, birds, flowers, mosses, grass and any animals you may come across are all gifts. Enjoy them. Appreciate them. And if it feels right to you give thanks for them.  Remind yourself that in the great scheme of things we are all interrelated. Take deep, long breaths. You’re not in a hurry. It’s not a fitness walk it’s a mental health walk. The kind where you get to stop and smell the roses. Deep breaths in and out, slowly, and a gentle nudging out of the way of any stressful thoughts. Do this for 15 minutes or so and then pickup the pace if you have too. Just familiarizing yourself with a slower less mentally crowded pace will help calm you.

I live in a small  coastal town on the East Coast. I get the best of both worlds; the shore and the woods. There is a 30 minute walk behind my house that winds it’s way through the woods out of sight of all but a couple houses. There are bunnies, coyotes, snakes, chipmunks  in the woods and ducks across the street. I make this walk everyday, weather and time permitting. It’s not my daily fitness walk. It’s my mental health walk. It’s something we all need to help reconnect to our source.