A few months ago I was feeling a lot of stress, not about any one thing, but rather with a jumble of several things. I found myself stepping outside the office 2-3 times a day to breathe some fresh air and relax. Only…I found I wasn’t relaxing, I was just stressing in a different spot, and more visibly, as I was outside the view of others.
After a few attempts at chilling out in the great outdoors (so to speak: I work downtown) I decided to visit the small church next door and sit in their shaded courtyard - A sign by the entrance called it a “meditation area”.
The courtyard is well kept, with plants adorning the perimeter and a stone wall seperating it from the street. As I sat, I stared toward some plants. In an epiphany I noticed that I was barely looking at them - I was more looking through them, and thinking about what was stressing me.
Thus began an exercise; I made it a point from then on to really look at nature, and really feel the breeze on my face when it blew through. Almost immediately I noticed a difference; all the leaves looked greener, the sky was bluer, and my stress melted away.
If there are no roses to stop and smell, stop and see the leaves. It makes a difference.
What about you? How do you relax when you’re stressed and fed up?
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