After about a year of living in the countryside, I notice very clearly how staying in a big city, without time to "do nothing", is quite a challenge for my body, mainly due to the large number of stimuli. Perhaps you feel the same, or you have become accustomed to the non-stop TV noise, ubiquitous advertisements, the rainbow of colours blinding you from every side after dark, evenings with Netflix, hundreds of photos that you browse on Instagram in your "free" time?
Why do we feel so good in the forest, in the garden, by the river, or even in the dark under the covers in bed? I think it's worth answering this question and finding a way to ensure that this peace takes a high place in our everyday lives. I have some suggestions for those who are ready for such a challenge! 😉
🌿 Not living close to nature? Create a jungle in your apartment! A few plants will make a huge difference, many species do not require any special knowledge, and inventions such as coconut soil that retains water perfectly will help keep plants alive even if you sometimes forget to water them. 😬 Another interesting idea may be an aquarium with fish - a great alternative to the TV (also for your cats).
🧘♀️ Meditate – it doesn't need to be complicated. Find a quiet and comfortable place at home. Sit down and imagine that you are seaweed under water - let your body make very gentle and fluid movements, feel the glow of the sun's rays passing through the water, just Be. This is one of my favourite visualizations because of its simplicity and the wonderful feeling even after a few minutes. Another option - during monotonous household chores, feel 100% of what you are doing - it's also a form of meditation!
🚦 A conscious pause. I already wrote about it here!
🛀 Return to the body through baths, massage, yoga. Perfect to feel your body again vs. external stimuli. If you don't have a bathtub, try dissolving the salts in a bowl of hot water and soaking your feet in it.
🌚 Avoiding screens at night. Especially if you don't sleep well or have trouble falling asleep - set a limit for using screens, e.g. until 8 pm. If you have to use the screen after dark, be sure to use a blue light filter, which I also wrote about here.
📺 Information diet. Don't consume everything that is served to you - including through the media, internet, movies, books. Focus on quality, not quantity. If you are passionate about a topic, manage the time you spend on it wisely - your brain is unlikely to absorb information from 20 different books, so it's better to choose only a few of them that appeal to you the most. I'm writing this only because I used to "collect" knowledge myself and today I know that it can easily lead to overstimulation and it's not good for our mental (and therefore also physical) health.
📉 Tired? Don't listen to another podcast. Among Bach Flowers the state of the Hornbeam indicates mental overstimulation - we feel tired for no apparent reason, e.g. physical exertion. The solution to this is as above, plus 2 drops of Hornbeam flower essence in a glass of water may help you get back to yourself faster.
☂ Energy hygiene. The last thing is other people's energies. If, like me, you have a tendency to draw in other people's emotions and energy, be sure to pay attention to the people you surround yourself with and protect yourself against unwanted influence - grounding will be helpful in this, first of all, but also awareness of your aura and opening of your chakras, which I will write about a bit more in the near future.