AND BREATHE…
For the last couple of years, we’ve been living in Storrington, a large West Sussex village at the foot of the South Downs. We are transient, here to sell my late Dad’s house – and it’s a lovely village, with a real sense of heart, but it’s impossible not to notice the volume of traffic, the pace of life.
It’s how our lives have become more generally, I think. Pressured. The constancy of digital connection is twenty-four seven. Our days feel rushed; at times, frenetic. We clock-watch, work long hours. Our nervous systems are over-stimulated. My days certainly used to feel like that, to the point that six years ago, we decided try a different way to live, and ended up spending a few years in rural France. And away from everything, surrounded by space and peacefulness, as life slowed down, I felt so much change.
I grew up surrounded by nature and the countryside. But I think now, it’s harder to find places where peace is uninterrupted. Wild places, where you can escape the material world and listen to the wind, or lean against trees – I am a proud tree-hugger! Trees emit frequencies, some of them not dissimilar to ours when we are resting, or healing. When you lean against a tree, it’s as though you can feel yourself sync to its rhythm.
Beaches are another place where we can let go of the stress of life. It’s part of the magic of a holiday in the sun! It’s the salty air, the sound of the water. The sea’s mineral content. The sand under our feet. It’s easier to tune our minds out for a while. Let ourselves be taken away from the routines of our lives.
Even a brief time spent in nature can benefit us. It’s breathing in clean air. Being surrounded by multiple shades of green. It’s stress-busting, lowers blood presssure. Can lift our mood. It’s also grounding. Maybe it fosters, too, a mindfulness of the mark we’re leaving on this planet.
When the pace of life feels relentless, these moments of stillness and solace take on new significance. A country walk can feel like a reset. The sound of the wind is enlivening, energising. Take a deep breath as you walk. Notice the first wild flowers bloom, or the vibrancy of bird song, a particular shade of the blueness of the sky. All of them reminders to be in the moment. That we are not separate. Of the interconnectedness of all life.