When my daughter stepped back from her demanding teaching career, she needed time to recuperate. She didn’t set goals, she simply paid attention to the needs of her children and her own health and began walking.
Every morning, she laced her shoes, stepped outside, and walked along the sea wall in Bay Saint Louis where she lived. One day I asked her, “How far do you walk?”
She said, “I walk till I feel better.”
I was blown away by the simple but profound wisdom in those words.
She understood that to settle her mind from worries, she only needed to walk and breathe and spend time in nature to repair herself.
Sometimes we need to decompress and pay attention to our thoughts and feelings. We will know we’re doing the right thing when we feel relief. We will know we are wasting our time and energy when we spend it in ways that deplete us.
For some, it may be walking, hiking, jogging or other form of physical exercise while enjoying the outdoors.
For others, it’s resting in a chair with eyes closed.
Or breathing deeply, releasing stress with the outbreath.
Or tending a garden bed.
Or painting, creating, sewing or other form of nurturing ourselves.
She doesn’t walk to achieve anything.
She walks until her inner being whispers, “There. That is enough. You can breathe again.”
And that is the quiet wisdom we all need.
Do the thing that helps you feel better and to find balance of mind, body, and spirit. It feels good and I hope you will find a way to feel balanced too. Lovingly, JudyV