Spirit Matters: Urgent self-care prescription, use profusely

As a trusted source of tips on being spiritually well, I offer you a time-tested prescription this week.

In doing so, I humbly borrow the oft-written words of my cousin Joe, who is a hiking guide at Starved Rock State Park.

“Get up! Go outside!”

When I first read Joe’s words on social media posts years ago, I wasn’t “getting up and going outside,” other than to go to the car and back. And that was mostly to go to work and back.

In fact, I was so out of touch with going outside simply to enjoy the outdoors’ healing properties that I would internally scowl when I saw his words. (Sorry, Joe. Nothing personal … more like years of depressive thoughts drowning me in a state of inertia.)

My overall health and well-being reflected this lack of spending time in the nurturing arms of Mother Nature.

Not only was I stuck in a state of depression and anxiety, but my energy levels were low, and my nutrient-deficient diet kept me from even being able to label myself as being in “good” health, as opposed to “fair” or “poor.” My cholesterol and blood pressure were high, and I had little time for self-care, much less the motivation to find something that worked and to stick with it.

But then I took Joe’s wise advice, and I began to “get up and go outside” when I was at home. I would take the dog with me to sit on the deck, doing nothing but looking out over the yard that I spent many hours as a child wandering in wonder – the same yard my dad, Joe’s mom, and their siblings grew up in.

It didn’t take long before spending 30 minutes or more outside each day began to provide noticeable improvements to my overall health and, more importantly, my attitude. And all I had to do was sit on the deck, breathing oxygen, watching the birds, breathing in the beautiful blooms and befriending the trees. (Obviously, going outside isn’t limited to sitting on the deck. It is a good idea to move around out there, too, to get the most benefit. But you have to start somewhere.)

Spending time in nature, along with targeted breathing practices, have been two of the most effective nervous system regulators and stress relievers in my life. Creative practice, especially writing and doodling, have been equally useful.

This is why I offer this prescription now, as we are all years into being at our collective wits end in dealing with national and world events, and the ever-mounting tension will come to a head in a little over a week during the 2024 election.

Spending time in nature is our birthright, and because we are organic creatures, it makes sense that the first line of protection we should harness for our overall health is the healing energies of the great outdoors and all that call it home.

I should have prescribed enormous amounts of time outside months – or years – ago, but, as it has been said ad nauseam, “It is what it is.” In another wise man’s often-quoted words, “Always we begin again.” – Saint Benedict.

So here we are, beginning again.

Fortunately for all of us, Mother Nature doesn’t discriminate based on political affiliation or any other identity or lifestyle choice. She welcomes each of us into her comforting cloak, even while we are shouting and swinging at each other, like the squabbling siblings that we are.

By the time she is done with us, hopefully we will not only be calmer in spirit, but also have learned a lesson or two about how to get along with one another.

And how to care for her and all the other living beings that are her children in return.

SPIRIT MATTERS is a weekly column by Jerrilyn Zavada Novak that examines experiences common to the human spirit. Contact her at jzblue33@yahoo.com.