I went for a nature walk today. I saw lizards, multiple species of birds, two deer, and fortunately no snakes. The only sound I heard was that of a gentle southerly breeze passing through the trees and the birds serenading me. My mind slowly emptied during my walk. By the time I finished, I was relaxed and ready to take on the day. There are times when it is important to ditch the unnatural sounds and let our minds clear out. Think of a nature walk without listening to digital media or engaging in non-stop conversation as spring cleaning for your mind.
nature
Today’s Health Tip ~ Green It Up
Get your Green Vitamin
It’s official: surrounding yourself with green views has a powerful effect on health and wellbeing, reducing psychological stress and boosting energy, self-esteem, and mood. As well as regularly getting out in nature, position the chairs in your house so you naturally gaze out of the windows, fill your home with indoor plants, and set your computer screensaver to your favorite landscape.
Today’s Smile 😃
Fact: Cows Have Best Friends
Today’s Smile 😃
Fact: Sea otters hold hands when they sleep.
They do that because it keeps them from floating away from each other while they sleep.
Peace & Beauty Surround Us
A friend shared this beautiful photo. Is it a sunrise or sunset? It really doesn’t matter. For me, it symbolized peace and beauty still exists even when chaos seems evident everywhere.
Happy Thanksgiving ~ Thank You for Passing my Way
Prayer of Thanksgiving
by Walter Rauschenbusch
O God, we thank you for this earth, our home;
For the wide sky and the blessed sun,
For the salt sea and the running water,
For the everlasting hills
And the never-resting winds,
For trees and the common grass underfoot.
We thank you for our senses
By which we hear the songs of birds,
And see the splendor of the summer fields,
And taste of the autumn fruits,
And rejoice in the feel of the snow,
And smell the breath of the spring.
Grant us a heart wide open to all this beauty;
And save our souls from being so blind
That we pass unseeing
When even the common thornbush
Is aflame with your glory,
O God our creator,
Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Never Gold Can Stay ~ Robert Frost
Never Gold Can Stay
Robert FrostNature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf,
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day
Nothing gold can stay.
Stress Hack: The Best 20 Minutes You’ll Spend Today
Leave Stress Behind – Enjoy Nature
Taking at least 20 minutes out of your day to stroll or sit in a place that makes you feel in contact with nature will significantly lower your stress hormone levels. That’s the finding of a study that has established for the first time the most effective dose of an urban nature experience. Healthcare practitioners can use this discovery to prescribe ‘nature-pills’ in the knowledge that they have a real measurable effect.
A Song to Nobody ~ Thomas Merton
Song for Nobody Thomas Merton A yellow flower (Light and spirit) Sings by itself For nobody. A golden spirit (Light and emptiness) Sings without a word By itself. Let no one touch this gentle sun In whose dark eye Someone is awake. (No light, no gold, no name, no color And no thought: O, wide awake!) A golden heaven Sings by itself A song to nobody.
Stress Hack: Enjoy Nature’s Free Sound Machine
Nature Plays Its Symphony
While you walk in nature, leave your electronics behind and listen to the melodies nature has to offer: babbling brooks, bird songs, wind whistling through the trees and the scurrying of unseen animals through the canopy. It’s a lot more relaxing than the honking horns and text message alerts you’re used to, and it offers the opportunity to practice some meditative mindfulness in your tranquil surroundings.
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