The best day I’ve had in a long time
We took a day. My husband, our Harper (red and sugar faced girl dog) and me and went to the beach. It was the best day I’ve had in a very long time.
I teach yoga all week. I practice yoga all week. I think about yoga all week. I study yoga all week. I do this all year long. I’ve been doing this for almost 9 years. Before that, I, with my wonderful husband, raised our 3 very busy children and I’ve been a yoga practitioner for over 24 years. No matter what we do, no matter how much we enjoy what we do, we need breaks from it. Work is only a part of who we are. Contrary to our culture in our lifetime on this planet, and even though we know we are actually much more than our product, do we live out that truth?
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We are made by God and out of stardust. The wonder of that.
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Daily, we tread through tall woods and weeds, and when we come to a clearing, oftentimes we do so only to get stuck on a sticky thorn. Our feet and body tire on hard parched ground, and yet we move at an unsustainable pace in order to keep up with it all, because somewhere we bought into believing this is just how life is. For years, I’ve been reading books telling me something else is true and ministering to my heart’s knowing. There’s beautiful family and terrific friends. There’s events and gatherings and more work. We are busy humans. But, we really are made for much more than just being busy and at work all the time. Even vacations can feel like more work and more pressure.
A day trip to the beach didn’t feel that way.
I know I’m not alone. Many of us drawn to the ocean shores. It really is a place I rest, I breathe, I slow down. I don’t work. I didn’t think about yoga for a whole day. That was a remarkable notice! I felt dramatically renewed, refreshed, happy and profoundly calmer. Perhaps, there’s a re-wiring at work inside each one of us in our longing for what it is to be human. Rest and renewal is absolutely essential, and yes, I’ll be getting back to the ocean for another day break soon. In the meantime, I am infusing it into my work. :)
So many of us are drawn to the beach. Ever wonder about that?
You experience the beach with all of your senses. It’s cool against your skin. The salty air you can taste as you breathe it in. The ocean has a certain smell of water plants and other marine life. The blues and greens dance in your eyes and the waves sparkle under the sky lit in blue.
Water has a powerful physiological effect on your body. Even drinking a glass of water can calm your nerves. Water triggers the parasympathetic nervous system lowering our heart rate and blood pressure, digestion is stimulated and your body relaxes.
The shifting shades of blue have a calming, relaxing yet energetic effect on our minds and bodies due to a specific wavelength. Our bodies were formed in a watery environment and are mostly made of water, so I wonder if that’s also why water can be so calming for us.
The sound that water makes in a natural setting, falls into a category of “pink noise.” Similar to white noise but smoother and more soothing. Pink noise is helpful for sleep as it reduces brain wave activity.
As a species, we have spent many more years living in open Savannas and along shorelines than in our man-made concrete habitats of modern life. Perhaps, it’s no wonder a natural environment induces feelings of ease.