Heroes Not Zombies

Yesterday I wrote about the exercise of taking the “view from on high“. Today, I’m returning to another of my favourite themes and activities……the wide open.

Maybe it’s because I was born and brought up in Scotland, or maybe it’s something many of us share, wherever we live, or wherever we come from, but a view like this opens me up to the world. An expanse like this, including a clear view of distant, snow covered mountains, reflected on the surface of a body of water makes me want to take a big deep breath in, slowing empty my lungs, and just take it all in.

This simple action of slow, large in-breath, followed by an even slower, longer out-breath, activates the parasympathetic nervous system, and it’s this response in the body which slows the heart, lowers the blood pressure, and relaxes our muscles.

The wide open natural environment opens the heart and the mind. In one and the same moment, I feel calm, feel my consciousness expand, and my heart open to this one, amazing, beautiful planet. I feel gratitude, contentment, and peace.

As the boundaries between my individual self, and the whole of the planet, of the universe even, dissolve, I experience awe, and know, in my heart and my mind, that I am inextricably connected to what is greater than me.

I am quite a fan of forest bathing, of the influence of trees on our health and wellbeing. I’m also a fan of being in the garden, listening to the birdsong, feeling the warmth of the sun (not in the midst of winter however!), and wandering around to discover what new plants and creatures I can find sharing this little space with me. But the experience of standing in the “wide open” is something else. It has a power. I recommend it.