Remedy for Stress

Sunday afternoon arrived with clearing of the sky and the return of the sun.  And I smiled.  The wind swept away feelings of stress and craziness leaving a more relaxed me in their place. 

For the first time in a couple weeks, I was connected with nature.  We were back on the streets, traveling the sidewalks, and padding through neighborhoods.  I felt like I could breathe.  I felt connected. 

Connected…

Connected to the world at large; connected to nature; connected to me. 

This connection seems to eliminate stress in my life.  It seems to act as a kind of reminder that there is space and time to relax, to step, to find beauty, and to breathe – all things that directly oppose stress, deadlines, and criticisms. 

As I consider the month of March and how stress played a role, it becomes apparent that much of the stress I felt had roots in technology, the disconnection between my life and nature during the month, and the ease (and perhaps desire) with which people have disconnected from the world around them as a result of e-mail, texting, and other advances. 

Perhaps this disconnected way of living eliminates stress for them? 

For me, it did just the opposite.  Moving from house to car to office to car to business to house… I felt my nerves tangle and become raw. 

The weeks of human interaction being only about words appearing in my inbox – both of ease and because people don’t want to connect – I find myself saying, typing, thinking, “Give me a call”  “Can we talk about this?”

What is happening in that we are more connected to machines and more comfortable with that interaction than we are with other human beings or the world at large?

And so I walk

I fight with the umbrella when the rain is lashing and the wind teasing and taunts. 

I raise my head to take in the purity of the blue sky and the lightness of the clouds.

I listen to the frogs sing their spring serenades and thrill with the chirping of the birds, barking of the dogs, and laughter of the children playing on newly mowed grass. 

And I pick up the phone and talk. 

I listen to the words of others and see them.

I connect with people and nature…

And I feel stress less…

 

RAOKA this month was about stress – ways of eliminating stress

We each have different ways of viewing stress and singular ways of working through it.  For me, it is connecting to nature, to people, and to myself.  I hadn’t realized how connecting to these things eliminated stress until March – and now I can’t imagine how I didn’t see my “connectedness therapy”  for stress before.

 

If you are interested in participating in RAOKA, click over to chat with the lovely and fabulous Zeenat!