Plain vanilla please.

Posted on 05. Aug, 2010 by Susan Wright in Life Coaching

What are you doing to keep life simple? Summer keeps it real easy; like a blanket laid out on the grass with a few items – a pen, notebook, and a deck of cards. As I write this blog post, my son and I are sitting under a huge tree and thankfully the shade and breeze provide the perfect shelter from high humidity and heat. The buzz of grasshoppers will forever remind me of summer and moments like this are simple pleasures that bring a calm and presence to life that can often be missed.

“What’s that sound?” my son asks. It’s a bird, squirrel, a dog barking in the distance…it doesn’t really matter what it is, but rather, that he is alert to life around him other than the usual urban traffic, video games, and any other manufactured noise. I often think a big source of stress for us humans (and animals) is the constant hum of mechanical noises and man-made technology. We go on day-after-day wondering why we don’t feel at our best. One vital key to our well-being is being in nature among the living sounds that have natural rhythm and tones. It’s easily overlooked and often we just don’t realize how far removed we’ve become from our natural environment. It’s just so simple, we forget!

With almost every client I’ve coached there’s a disconnect with their natural environment, with their own nature. This gap may be expressed as, “I don’t feel grounded, I feel restless, I’m out of sorts, I’m not myself.” So how do you reconnect, get re-acquainted with nature and your own vibrant self? Most likely you know a variety of ways, but more importantly, do you know when you’re too far away and detached with the natural rhythm of life?

When you have that moment of awareness, you can choose a course of action that will bring you closer to a natural state and possibly create space and time in your daily life to tap into nature’s source. Summer makes it easier for us. We can pack up for a hike, saunter along the beach, canoe in the great rivers and lakes. Quite simply, we can throw a bag over our shoulder, lay a blanket down and request “plain vanilla please” when the ice -cream truck charms us with its tune.

We simply need to give ourselves permission to retreat, restore, and yes, be lazy. As Linda Guinee shares in her post, Are you being Lazy enough? “I had purposefully not planned my time, and instead had set an intention to have nowhere to go and nothing to do. And so, what a delight as each day unfolded!” To reacquaint with our true nature, consider these ideas:  A walk among trees, daily meditation, finding a stream of water, breaks at a park bench, taking your camera and exploring whatever comes within your view…and make an intention just to be in the rhythm of simplicity and nature for some time.

We know once the holiday is over, the buzz returns, so build in some mini retreats and healthy practices and plain vanilla is always a good option. Listen for the vibrancy of life and you’ll soon feel clear, whole, and simply better.

Tags: Busy lifestyles, health, lifestyle, mindful