This entry was posted on Thursday, September 10th, 2009 at 5:50 pm and is filed under Life Stress, Ways to Reduce Stress. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
The other day I saw a man standing in the Fraser River with the cold water up to his groin. I shuddered just looking at him. He said that the hip-waders he was wearing kept out some of the cold and the rest he ignored. He told me that he loved fishing and would stand there for hours at a time, just casting out the fishing line and then reeling it in again.
Personally, I can’t imagine anything more boring, but I know that thousands of people love it. I asked him why he did it. He replied that he liked to fish where there weren’t a lot of people (I guess that was my hint that he wanted to be left alone). He said that fishing was very restful and stress-reducing for him.
I thought about what I like to do that was quiet and restful – and stress reducing. As a Stress Relief Coach, I know lots of tips and techniques to reduce stress, but it was the “quiet” part that I pondered about.
I love to read and watch movies but even though I may be resting physically, I’m still being stimulated by what I’m reading or watching. It is not really “quiet” time.
I guess that for me, my ”quiet” time is when I go for walks by myself in nature. I especially love to walk on the dyke along the Fraser River. It is so beautiful everywhere I look. On one side is the river and on the other is the valley, with its farms and fields. All around me are the mountains, lorded over by Mount Baker.
I used to listen to music or motivational talks when I walked but I don’t any more. When your mind is being stimulated by music or someone speaking, there is no time to just think and feel.
This is my quiet time. When I walk, I look and listen and ponder and pray and just allow myself to be. I have learned to carry my camera with me because I am always amazed at what I see on my walks and the lessons about life I learn while I am out there.
If you are feeling really stressed, maybe one of the reasons is that you are not giving yourself some “quiet” time. Try it and let me know how you feel.
September 22nd, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Hi Sheryl,
I enjoyed your blog. I also agree that I couldn’t imagine anything more boring than fishing. Perhaps its the nurse part of us! (I am also a RN) I do agree with the walking in nature and not listening to anything. We are bombarded with noise, noise, noise. Quiet is so important to hear our inner self.
BTW,Great site!
September 26th, 2009 at 2:30 am
Thanks Pattie,
When I listened to your video and read your material, I felt like I was meeting my twin! I’ve gone through similar experiences, including having a handicapped son.
October 29th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Thank you very much. I appreciate website your help my life. That is very kind of you
November 10th, 2009 at 7:00 am
It is always wonderful to receive acknowledgement for your efforts. Thank you1
March 20th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
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March 23rd, 2010 at 2:29 am
Thank you for your positive comments Zynga. However, I am a little concerned that you “devote virtually all of your afrternoon on the internet” playing video games. In my years of stress-relief coaching, it has been my experience that this can be symtomatic of an addiction and just like any other kind of addiction, it is something we use to try to reduce the stress in our lives.
Unfortunately, it is usually not effective because it doesn’t address or eliminate the cause or core issue of the stress. It just acts as a pacebo to calm us down. It also can have some pretty serious side effects. I would strongly encourage you to look into what you are trying to avoid by spending so much of your time playing video games.
In my eight years of research and four years of private coaching, the most effective tool that I’ve found for getting to and eliminating core emotional issues that interfere with people having productive, happy lives is Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT. If you would like to know more, I invite you to visit my website: http://www.SherylStanton.com