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Friday, February 14, 2025

Working towards 'Hen'-fullness


It’ll doubtless come as no shock to you that I’ve been seeing a therapist to course of the sentiments I’m having about my baby’s current trauma and restoration. One of many assignments my therapist gave me this previous week was to take ten minutes day by day within the backyard to sit down and do nothing.

If you recognize me in any respect, you recognize that ‘do nothing’ isn’t a typical phrase in my vocabulary. I’m a do-er. All the time have been. My physique is never at relaxation. If I do occur to sit down within the backyard, my physique might look relaxed, however my thoughts is racing – I discover the whole lot that wants doing, I take into consideration the work emails piling up in my inbox, I ponder about subsequent week’s meal plan – principally something to maintain my thoughts busy. After all, retaining the thoughts occupied with on a regular basis ‘busyness’ signifies that it doesn’t need to take care of pesky feelings. Good plan. Besides that, in fact, I do must take care of these pesky feelings.

I made a decision that I can create a ten minute interval in between letting the chickens out and taking Tom to BART. I’ve a soft outside chair and a chunky knitted throw to maintain me heat on chilly mornings. So I’ve been sitting there, making an attempt to calm my thoughts and do nothing. If a thought is available in, I inform myself simply to consider it later. I take deep breaths and I watch the solar rise and begin to shine by way of the leaves.

Did you ever see a present referred to as “Dawn Earth?” When the youngsters had been little, we used to place it on each morning whereas we had been consuming breakfast, getting dressed, and many others. Every episode confirmed, over the course of half-hour, a dawn someplace on earth. It was gradual, it was silent (aside from nature sounds), and it was lovely.

What I spotted this previous week is that I’ve my very own private dawn earth proper exterior my again door.

We’ve had a chook feeder hanging on the rooster coop for years, and it’s been a continuing supply of delight for us to see who’s visiting or dwelling in our yard. Due to the feeder, and our water fountain, birds know that they’ll have an everyday provide of food and drinks right here, and so we are likely to have an awesome number of guests. Watching the morning exercise is principally simply pure pleasure. The bushes are filled with birds; there’s birds on the feeder and under the feeder; there’s birds on the fountain and birds on the twinkly-light wires. And the dialog! Chattering, calling, singing – the sky is filled with music.

Because it’s laborious for me to do completely nothing, I’ve been opening the ‘Merlin’ app on my telephone and setting it to file the birdsong. Over the course of ten minutes, it ‘hears’ about 15 totally different birds. Each morning there’s the common prospects: finches, titmice, chickadees, sparrows, crows, jays, doves, and woodpeckers. However some mornings the app will file a cedar waxwing, or a western bluebird, or a warbler, or a vireo. That is very thrilling!

On this method, I’m able to apply mindfulness (‘chook’-fulness!) with out letting different ideas intrude into my head. It’s a software to get me to the place my therapist was aiming for – a spot the place my physique and thoughts are each calm and relaxed, in order that I can let go of a number of the nervousness, fear, grief and worry that I’ve been experiencing since we’ve returned dwelling from Georgia. It’s one more method my backyard is offering for me; it’s giving me a spot to study a brand new talent, one that may have constructive repercussions for the remainder of my life.

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