Make it a season of fresh air
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This winter refresh your day, literally, with fresh air. Go outside, take a big gulp of fresh air, then take a few more, and you’ll enjoy a full spectrum of health-promoting goodness.
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What's on your wish list? How about a little self-care all wrapped up in nature
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Earlier this fall as I wandered through the gorgeous Washington Park arboretum in Seattle, I couldn’t help but feel grateful. It was an early Saturday morning, the skies were dry, the park still quiet, and I was with my daughter, her husband and their sweet dog. This year the fall foliage was absolutely stunning. Every turn revealed another burst of color. Brilliant leaves of Japanese maples, sumacs, and sourwood lit the wooded and wide open spaces. Not only was I grateful for all of the fall beauty and my companions, my outlook was expanded—excited about things to come, even though I didn’t have a clue as to what that might be.
There is a science behind the way I felt,
Read MoreWant to fall in love with fall?
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Without a doubt fall is an incredible season of bounty and letting go. Crops are gathered and leaves are falling. Time feels more spacious. Shorter days might get you to bed early or cozy on the couch after dinner. It’s a season to be savored as mother nature takes a deep breath and releases summer’s high energy with a long slow sigh. And as the season moves into Thanksgiving, it turns into a time of celebration and gratitude. What’s not to love about fall?
Read MoreQuick takes
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Quick Takes is a growing list of places with brief descriptions based on our journeys and breathtaking scenery. We just wrapped up our most recent 12-day road trip in “Bliss." (our sweet little trailer). If you follow me, by now you know that I believe in the healing power of nature. And this is absolutely what we just experienced. Below are three new “Takes” from Mount Rainier! These are beautiful places worth adding to your travels.
Also, check out the entire Quick Takes section for more glorious spots to explore this fall. Be well!
Read MorePark Rx America - Nature prescribed
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We stroll down the dirt path loving the vegetation. We are just east of the Cascade mountains near Winthrop in Washington state. Aspen trees, ponderosa pines, hemlocks, and flowering bushes border the trail. It is hard to convey how the smell of the dry warm foliage surrounding us makes me feel. It’s something akin to my younger days in Spokane when floating on an air mattress for hours or playing softball with friends and a keg of beer on the bench were at the top of my priority list.
Read MorePICTURE IT WELL: realize your inner strength
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This image of Mount Shuksan symbolizes strength, Endurance, foundation, stillness, purity, and perspective. Located in cascade mountains, washington state. © GIVEN PHOTOGRAPHY 2020
Realize your inner strength. Life coach and motivational speaker, Tony Robbins, suggests that many of us are stronger than we think we are. A strong inner self can help us remain calm and resilient when adversity strikes. But how often do you draw from your internal resources to get you through tough times? Resilience, empathy, mindfulness, self-compassion, confidence, openness, determination, patience, and gratitude are all characteristics of inner strength. These attributes are what brings peace and purpose to your life for the long haul. They are your well-spring.
Use the stillness and beauty of this season to help you explore and tap into your own unique inner strength.
Peace and joy to all.
PICTURE IT WELL photos from givenphoto.com symbolize some aspect of well-being. The brief text is meant to inspire you and demonstrate the uplifting power of nature.
Explore an urban wetland this fall or winter
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As I was considering the topic of my blog post for this week, I couldn’t help but think it’s such a small thing compared to all of the BIGNESS that is happening in our world these days—Covid, elections, social justice, and violence to name a few. But then I thought, maybe small is what we each need right now. Because no matter how out of control and unnerving the world seems today
Read MoreSimple cleansing pleasures of fall
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I’ve written a lot about fall throughout the years. Mostly because it’s my favorite season. I love its stunning transitional beauty and I’m drawn to the season’s natural cleansing energy. It’s a time to let go, clear out, drop whatever is not working, and begin to turn inward.
Read MoreStay strong with these powerful daily habits
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For most of us the pandemic has tested us both physically and mentally. And that might be an understatement because it feels like we have a zillion out of the ordinary things to mange and think about—making our lives a bit edgy.
Read MorePICTURE IT WELL: what if forests were our church?
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© copyright given photography 2020
I found this poem in an old Yoga Journal magazine and was drawn to the nature analogy. It seemed so applicable to today’s world on so many levels. Click on the author link below to read the fascinating biography of this life long adventurer.
RAINFOREST POEM
What if?“What if religion was each other?
If our practice was our life?
If prayer was our words?
What if the temple was the Earth?
If forests were our church?
If holy water—the rivers, lakes, and oceans?
What if meditation was our relationships?
If the Teacher was life?
If wisdom was self-knowledge?
If love was the center of our being.”
PICTURE IT WELL photos from givenphoto.com symbolize some aspect of well-being. The brief text is meant to inspire you and demonstrate the uplifting power of nature.
