Q I am someone who doesn’t get out much and I am looking at new ways to find relaxation outside of my home. Do you have any suggestions?
A The famed writer Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Nature is our great balancer,” and I am one who believes that nature is one of the gifts we have that we often take for granted.
Stephen Rechstaffen, MD, in his book Timeshifting said it is important for all of us to develop personal pause buttons. That is, specific ways that we can take a break from our normal routines. One of the more specific ones he shared was that of taking a walk in nature. It seems very simple, yet there is a quality of nature that creates in us an immediate feeling of calmness and tranquility.
Harvard Professor, turned American Guru Ram Dass, Richard Alpert talked about taking a daily walking meditation, in which you walk slowly in nature, so that every step is taken deliberately with acute awareness of all of your senses.
Many of us get so caught up in our work days that we may forget about that which is staring us in our faces all the time—the beauty of nature. Learning to take what is in the background of our awareness and placing it in the foreground is an art and a skill.
Take a moment to listen to the birds when you are outside, or stop to watch the squirrels as they chase each other up a tree, or take a moment to look at the stars. In his same essay, Nature, Emerson says, “If a person [man] is alone, let him look at the stars.…Seen in the streets of cities how great they are. If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would we [men] believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown. But every night come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile. The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always present, they are inaccessible; but all natural objects make a kindred impression, when the mind is open to their influence.”
As Emerson shares, it is very easy to take nature for granted. I am sure if the stars were to come out once every thousand years, we would appreciate them much more greatly! Think to yourself, what is in your life now that you take for granted. It is often when something leaves us that we appreciate it. What can you appreciate in your life that you take for granted? This evening, look up at the stars, or spend a moment listening to the birds nearby, or focus on the smell of fresh cut grass.
Learning to reawaken our sense of beauty is an important key to being relaxed. A friend of mine gets very stressed at her job. She takes a daily walk through the trees near her job and it always replenishes her and reminds her of what is truly important in life—her health. Find a way to put nature in the foreground of your mind when you are stressed. Take a breather away from your daily grind. Through nature, you will find a greater sense of balance.
Robert Lawrence Friedman, MA, is a psychotherapist, coach, author and recognized leader in the field of stress management. He is the president of Stress Solutions, Inc., a corporation that has provided stress management programs to corporations and health care institutions for more than two decades. He has appeared on Discover Health Channel, CNBC, Today in New York on NBC, Fox News and others; he has been interviewed by the Washington Times and Cosmopolitan magazine, among others. He is the director of the Queens College Corporate Stress Management Training Program (www.qc.edu). He has recently created five DVDs of his stress management workshops, as well as a relaxation imagery CD which can be found at www.stress-solutions.com or by calling 212-229-7779.
