Soothe your little sweetie with a gentle massage

Empirical research suggests our appreciation of massage starts early—as tastes go, it’s one that needs little acquiring. That’s certainly the message behind the growing trend of infant massage, where mothers and fathers (and sometimes caretakers) bond with their wee ones through loving touch and improve their overall health. Parents, nurses, and doctors say that massage helps babies grow better, improves digestion, and eases colic. Studies conducted at the Touch Research Institutes at the University of Miami School of Medicine show that infant massage facilitates weight gain in preterm infants, decreases babies’ level of stress hormones, and balances out their sleep/wake cycle. “Nurturing touch is important for children’s physical, social, behavioral, mental, and cognitive development,” says Linda Garofallou, an infant and pediatric massage therapist at Children’s Hospital in Newark, New Jersey. She gives infant massage to patients and also trains others in the technique.

To do an infant massage, choose a time when your baby is well fed and rested. Set your Zen Timer for twenty minutes.  Put a towel in a quiet room for the baby to lie on, choose a natural oil such as coconut, almond, or avocado, and play relaxing music. Assess the baby’s receptivity by observing her response to your touch. If she is stiff or tense, then use your intuition: either hold her closely in your arms until she relaxes—or wait for another time. A gazing, quiet, yet alert state means she is ready to begin.

Mom and baby

A common stroke, called Indian Milking, entails holding one foot with your hand and then “milking” the leg from the ankle to thigh. Follow this by holding the thigh with both hands and gently twisting and squeezing your hands as you move from thigh to foot. (For more strokes, see Vimala Schneider’s classic book, Infant Massage: A Handbook for Loving Parents [Bantam, 1989] or visit the International Association of Infant Massage, www.iaim.ws/home.html, to find a certified infant massage instructor near you.)

Babes aren’t the only ones who benefit from infant massage. Experts like Andrea Kelly, ceo of the International Association of Infant Massage in Ventura, California say that giving a massage releases nurturing hormones for both the mother (oxytocin) and the father (prolactin).

In addition to bonding, infant massage helps kids born with addictions or serious health problems, says Joanne Starr, MD, director of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery at Children’s Hospital. She’s seen the positive effects of Garofallou’s infant massage on the tiny heart patients she’s operated on. “I think it’s a very important part of their healing,” says Starr, who adds that many of these infants can’t be held because they are hooked up to ventilators. “It’s such a helpless feeling for the parents, but massage empowers them to do something.”

adapted from Natural Solutions Magazine, October 2007

Bamboo Digital Chime Clock, a calming timer and alarm clock made from natural materials like bamboo, walnut, and maple

 Now & Zen

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it's okay to yawn

Afraid to risk rudeness and let out a hearty yawn? Well, here’s an excuse to give Miss Manners a hissy fit: According to neuroscientist Andrew Newberg, MD, director of the Center for Spirituality and the Mind at the University of Pennsylvania, yawning is one of the best-kept health secrets. “If you want to maintain an optimum healthy brain, it is essential that you yawn,” says Newberg. The action stimulates neural movement in certain areas of the mind and regulates brain temperature and metabolism—all of which can increase muscle control, enhance sensuality, and even ward off jet lag. Newberg suggests yawning 10 times in a row every day, along with your regular workout or wellness routine. A nightly yawning ritual can help you:

Chill out. Newberg says a good yawn can relax you more effectively than meditation. “More than simply calming the body, yawning brings the mind into a heightened state of cognitive functioning.”

Stay focused. “Yawning rids the brain of sleepiness, helping you keep your attention on important ideas and concepts,” says Newberg. So why do we start yawning before we hit the sack? Because it also helps regulate our internal clock: When we’re tired, yawning signals sleep.  No need to set your Zen Alarm Clock for bedtime quite yet.

Be more compassionate. Studies show yawning stimulates the part of the brain responsible for generating empathy and social awareness. So intentional yawning may actually strengthen our ability to be kind to others.

adapted from Natural Solutions Magazine, October 2009 by Danielle Winston

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yoga at home

I got into yoga as a college student on a typically tight budget. To save money I decided to memorize my favorite sequence and practice at home. It was love at first Sun Salute. But not so much in class, where I obediently followed along, trying my best to keep up with a fast-moving flow, diligently taking the inevitable corrections, and silently cursing the woman next to me who was clearly related to Gumby.

Practicing at home gave me the time and the freedom to play in the poses and see how my body reacted. “You can feel when a pose is right and when it’s a little off,” says Barbara Benagh, a Boston yoga instructor and home practice veteran. “If it doesn’t feel right, it doesn’t matter how good it looks.” My first uncertain, bumbling adjustments eventually guided me to a better understanding of yoga as well as my own strengths, limitations, and needs.

Think of yoga, especially a home practice, as a learning process. There will be fits and starts, but you’re not alone in your struggle for consistency. “Sometimes the challenge is doing it at all,” admits Benagh. But once you step on the mat, you can let the practice take shape. Whether you stick to a specific sequence or just muddle through a few of your favorite poses, you’re still doing yoga. Give yourself permission to explore the poses that attract you and, just as importantly, those that you resist. Tune into how your breath feels, where your mind goes, and the sensations that each pose invites. Avail yourself of books, DVDs, and websites (see “At-home helpers” on page 58 for suggestions), and go at your own pace. Once in a while get a yoga checkup by going to a class that emphasizes adjustments or splurging on a yoga private session.

yoga at home, use a yoga timer tool from Now & Zen

The bonuses of a steady practice may surprise you—improvements in your health, strength, flexibility, and general quality of life. A new study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine reports that just one week of daily yoga practice increases spinal flexibility and decreases pain in people suffering from chronic low back pain. Plus you’ll strengthen your body’s ability to fight disease: A 2007 study analyzing antioxidant levels in the blood found that study participants who had practiced yoga for six months had significantly higher levels of free radical–fighting antioxidants in their blood than the control group.

My home practice was born of financial limitation, but I’ve stuck with it for many different reasons: self-nurturing when I’m feeling down or during that-time-of-the-month, a busy schedule, convenience, a chance to work on difficult poses in the privacy of my own home (with no Gumbies around). Whatever inspires you to begin a home practice, this easy-to-follow guide can help you succeed.

The yoga of distraction
You don’t need a private studio to have a successful home practice. But it does help to create a space you can come back to where you feel comfortable and focused. Distracted by a cluttered room? Take five minutes to tidy up before stepping on the mat; it can be a great way to center yourself for each session. Have trouble staying put? Benagh suggests you use music—just practice for the length of one album or playlist—to provide some structure as well as motivation to stick it out. But she reminds us that, “one element of yoga is discipline and exertion. Be patient with the process, and you will build stamina by continuing to persevere even when you get discouraged.”

Kid Yoga Lotus Pose

Focus on the breath
Yoga’s mindful breathing sets it apart from most other forms of exercise. This diaphragmatic or belly breathing begins in the abdomen rather than the chest, pulling the air deeper into the lungs, which fosters more complete oxygen–carbon dioxide exchange. To tune in to your breath, sit comfortably, and rest your hand on your belly. As you inhale, feel your belly filling up with breath; as you exhale, allow your belly to empty.

By linking your inhale and exhale to your movements, you can use the breath as a powerful guide for your yoga practice. Pay attention to the quality of the breath. If it feels jagged, you may be working too hard. Ease up or go into Child’s Pose until you feel ready to move again. If your breath becomes very slow or lazy, you may be losing focus. Challenge yourself to stay more alert and active in your practice. If at any point you lose track of your breathing, that’s OK. Just notice it, and come back.

Build a sequence
A balanced sequence of poses moves your body and spine through its full range of motion—circulating oxygen-rich blood, eliminating toxins, stretching and lubricating the entire body. Every asana (body) falls into at least one, and sometimes several, of eight categories—standing, balancing, forward bends, backbends, hip openers, twists, inversions and restoratives. Each type offers different benefits, challenges, and insights.

Standing postures ground your energy, revitalize the legs, improve balance and digestion, build bone density, and lubricate joints. * Balancing postures improve balance, build bone density, focus the mind, and strengthen the joints. * Backbends open the chest and heart, relieve depression, keep the spine supple, and energize body and mind. * Forward bends soothe the nervous system, release tension in the back, and promote sound sleep. * Hip openers promote pelvic, prostate, and reproductive health and reduce sciatic pain. * Twists lubricate the spine and tone and detoxify the organs. * Inversions tone and relax the organs, recirculate blood, center the mind, and improve concentration. * Restorative postures do exactly that: Restore mind and body and reduce stress and tension.

yoga practice

The four Bs
* Blocks help you maintain proper alignment while you build strength and flexibility. * A belt supports you in restorative poses and helps you stay aligned and safe as you stretch. * A bolster supports your body in passive, restorative poses. * A blanket can be used in lieu of or in addition to a bolster to make you more comfortable and help you relax.

Now you’re ready to go. Try the following sequence, courtesy of yogis Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman, creators of the Gaiam Yoga Club, an online community offering healthy home practices anyone can do.

1. Mountain Pose
(Tadasana)
How to: Stand with your feet parallel, heels slightly apart, and big toes touching. Broaden your collarbones, press your shoulder blades into the back to open up your chest, and place your arms by your sides. Lengthen through the sides of your waist, and balance your head over your shoulders, feeling a sense of ease (and no tension) in the neck. Breathe here for eight to 10 breaths.
standing pose

2. Tree Pose (Vrksasana)
How to: From Mountain Pose, bring your right foot up and press it against the inside of your left thigh or calf, or rest your right heel on the inside of your left ankle. Keep your hips facing the front and your right knee opening out to the side. Stay here for five to eight breaths; release your right leg to the floor and return to Mountain Pose. Repeat pose on the other side.
Variation: Hold on to the back of a chair or touch the wall for balance if you need to. Caution: Don’t rest your foot against your knee as this can cause strain in the joint.
standing; balance; hip opener

3. Standing Forward Bend
(Uttanasana)
How to: From Mountain Pose, exhale and fold from the hips (not the waist), and bring your hands to the floor beside your feet. Keep your knees lifted, relax the low back, and soften the belly. Stay here for five to eight breaths.
Variation: Rest your hands on blocks if they don’t reach the floor; bend your knees to avoid stress on your lower back. Caution: If you have sciatica, you may want to avoid this posture.
standing; forward bend; inversion

4. Downward-Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
How to: From Standing Forward Bend, step your feet back, coming into a plank position (yoga push-up position—arms straight, shoulders over hands, and legs straight so that your body forms a flat plank). Exhale and lift your sit bones toward the ceiling, pressing into your palms and inner arms. Keep the kneecaps lifted; reach your heels toward the floor. Stay here for five to eight breaths, and work up to 15 breaths. Step your right foot between your hands, then your left foot, returning to Mountain Pose.
Variation: Rest your forehead on a block (to ease a headache, calm your nerves, or cool a hot flash).
standing; inversion

5. Triangle Pose (Trikonasana)
How to: From Mountain Pose, step your feet about 3 to 4 feet apart. Turn your left foot slightly inward and your right foot out 90 degrees; the heel of your right foot should be in line with the heel of your left. Stretch your arms out to the sides, lift up through the front of your thighs, and press your shoulder blades into your back to open your chest. Exhale, and keeping both sides of your waist long, extend your trunk to the right and bring your right hand down to your shin or a block. Stretch your left arm up to the ceiling. Look straight ahead or up at your left hand. Rotate your belly toward the ceiling. Hold for five to eight breaths. On an inhalation, lift up and turn your feet back to a parallel position. Repeat on your left side, then turn your toes forward and step back into Mountain Pose. Note: The object is to support and open the chest by keeping your spine and waist long. Don’t worry about bringing your hand all the way down to the floor.
Variation: Place a block on the outer edge of your right foot to support your hand.
standing; hip opener; twist

6. Extended Side Angle Pose
(Utthita Parsvakonasana)
How to: From Mountain Pose, step your feet out slightly wider than you did for Triangle Pose. Turn your right foot out 90 degrees and your left foot slightly inward. The heel of your left foot should line up with the heel of your right. Stretch your arms out to the sides, exhale, and bend your right knee so that your thigh is parallel to the floor. On your next exhale, extend your trunk to the right, keeping both sides of your waist long, and bring your right hand down to a block (or rest your elbow on your thigh). Stretch your left arm up over your left ear, rotate your belly toward the ceiling, and look up under your armpit. Breathe and hold this pose for five to eight breaths. Inhale as you lift up, and straighten your torso. Repeat on the left side and then step back into Mountain Pose.
Caution: Don’t do this pose if you have arthritis of the knee or very low blood pressure.
standing; hip opener; twist

7. Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana)
How to: Lie flat on your stomach, forehead on the floor. Bring your hands beside your chest so that your forearms are perpendicular to the floor and your elbows are tucked in to your sides. Inhale, lift up from your chest, elongating your waist and spreading your collarbones wide. (You should not feel a pinch in your lower back in this gentle backbend). Keep your legs active and pelvis on the mat. Hold for five to eight breaths. On an exhalation, release back into the floor, turn your head to the side and rest for a moment before repeating.
Caution: Do not do this pose if you are more than three months pregnant.
backbend

8. Bound Angle Pose (Baddha Konasana)
How to: Sit with your back straight and your belly lifted. Bend your legs, and bring the soles of your feet together in front of you, allowing your knees to open out to the side. Hold your ankles, and draw your heels toward your pubic bone. Gently lower your knees as far as possible. Put your hands on the floor behind you to sit up taller and encourage the natural curves of the spine. Stay here for eight to 10 breaths.
Variation: Sit with hips on a folded blanket or a bolster and feet on the floor if your knees come up higher than your waist. Place a block under each thigh.
hip opener 9. Simple Seated Twist Pose
(Parivrtta Sukhasana)
How to: Sit cross-legged on the mat. Lengthen through the sides of your waist and elongate your spine. Place you left hand on your right knee and bring your right hand to the floor behind you. Keeping your hips facing straight ahead, begin twisting to the right from your belly first, then your ribcage, chest, and shoulders. Look over your right shoulder. Stay here for five to eight breaths. Come back to the front and repeat on the other side.
Variation: Place a block behind you to support your hand; sit up on a folded blanket with your knees and feet on the floor.
Caution: Avoid this pose if you have a cold or congestion in your chest.
twist

10. One-Legged Forward Bend (Janu Sirsasana)
How to: With your legs stretched out in front of you, bend your left knee and place your left foot on the inside of your right leg, near your groin. Keeping the right leg straight, turn your abdomen and chest so your sternum is in line with the center of your right leg. Inhale and stretch up. Exhale as you reach your arms out in front of you, and fold your trunk forward over your right leg. Stay here for at least eight breaths or longer if you like.
Variation: If you have tight hamstrings, wrap a belt around the base of your right foot and hold onto it as you fold forward. For a more restorative pose, put a bolster on your outstretched leg and rest your head and arms on the bolster.
Caution: Don’t do this pose if you have sciatica.
forward bend; twist

11. Corpse Pose (Savasana)
How to: Lie on your back with your legs stretched out in front of you. Rest your arms at your sides, slightly away from your torso, palms facing up. Actively stretch your arms and legs away from you, then allow them to release completely. Close your eyes, and let everything relax. Let your breathing become natural and effortless. Rest here for five to 10 minutes.
Variations: Place a folded blanket or bolster under you knees to release the back muscles. Cover up with a blanket if you feel cold. You can also use an eye pillow to help the eyes and brain relax. n
restorative

Adapted from Natural Solutions Magazine, August 2008, by Nora Simmons

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Buddha

Maybe your next vacation should be a journey inward.

On the path to the hot springs at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, I begin a kind of walking meditation, a continual awareness of what I am doing right now. Now I am crossing a footbridge to the baths, now I am taking off my flip-flops, now I am standing in front of an altar and reading the calligraphy: “With all beings/I wash body and mind/free from dust/pure and shining/within and without.”

“Guess my name,” says the little girl who shares the Japanese-style outdoor pool with me.

“Okay. Emma,” I say.

“Do you know her?” her mother asks, puzzled.

“No,” I say, “she just looks like an Emma.”

I’m not clairvoyant, but at retreat centers people converge in unexpected ways. Beyond the pool, past the sun-bleached sycamores on the far side of the creek, seven naked women in sun hats carefully wind their way upstream. There’s something mischievous about them as they wander in haphazard single file. I try to give them a context: Are they workshop participants hunting for wild mushrooms? Who knows? I think of the Zen notion of beginner’s mind, ready for anything, open to everything…and, silently, I thank Emma and the naked women for being here, for opening my mind.

Buddhas

In my mid-30s, I became an inveterate retreater. With two small kids, time to myself seemed a thing of the past. So I began to take week-long breaks, alone and seeking contemplation, at cabins, in farmhouses, on islands. Along the way, I discovered one retreat that offered me contemplation as a way of life shared by an entire community. Tassajara is the place I return to year after year.

Slowing way down is the first gift of Tassajara, and slow is the only way to drive the 14-mile dirt road that climbs through the Los Padres National Forest and over a 5,000-foot ridge of the Santa Lucia Mountains to the retreat. I stop and look down the steep descent through firs, sugar pines, tanbark oaks, and madrone into the canyon cut by Tassajara Creek. I exhale deeply, sloughing off my half-day drive south from San Francisco and a few layers of anxiety that have accumulated since my last visit here — the war and its threat to all of us with draft-age children, my divorce driving its way toward finality.

An open gate leads travelers to Tassajara, also known as Zenshin-ji (Zen Mind Temple), founded in 1966 by Japanese Soto Zen priest Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and the San Francisco Zen Center. The first Soto Zen monastery outside of Asia follows a traditional monastic schedule during the fall, winter, and early spring, then opens for guest season from late April through early September.

At Tassajara, where electricity is largely confined to the dining room and kitchen, cell phones don’t work, and a single public telephone is more trouble than it’s worth, guests are offered another way — the way of retreat. Here, the scheme of things is clear. One’s small place in it, uncomplicated.

Digital Zen Alarm Clocks and Timers, available in maple, walnut, bamboo, and black lacquer

Whether here or elsewhere, there are a number of ways to have a retreat. Retreats are times to turn inward, to quiet down, to let your own needs take precedence. At Tassajara, free from cars, buses, jobs, and family responsibilities, you simply bathe, eat, sleep, sit in meditation (or not, as you choose), swim, hike, read. You might venture to the massage kiosk to be kneaded, tapped, stretched, and unblocked. The day’s big excursion could be swimming some laps in the spring-fed creek-side pool, or hiking a mile downstream to a tumble of large boulders and small waterfalls you can ride down to the local swimming hole. Feeling more energetic, you might hike one of the trails — my favorite being up the mountain to the Wind Caves, where you can sit inside shallow, white-sand-floored pockets in the granite cliff face and behold the top of the world. You can return for the organic vegetarian meals, a cuisine pioneered by Tassajara’s Ed Brown and Annie Somerville, the chef of the Zen Center’s San Francisco restaurant, Greens.

Another way of visiting Tassajara is as a workshop participant. “Zen and Yoga” marks a turning point in my retreat life — a threshold to greater community, one that adds structure to my retreat time. With my daughter away at college and my teenage son spending every other week at his dad’s, I no longer crave alone time as I once did. Instead, I’m looking for ways to realign myself in relationship to others. In this context, retreat becomes an active verb.

My workshop takes place in the meditation hall, or zendo, where over the next three days we will examine how sitting meditation and the practice of yoga postures, or asanas, inform and enhance one another.  I have brought my Zen Meditation Timer to end my meditation.  It’s taught by Victoria Austin, a long-time Zen priest and yoga teacher who is also president of the San Francisco Zen Center. The afternoon we arrive, Victoria introduces us to the statue of a sitting Buddha that dominates the altar in the middle of the hall. When a fire destroyed the old zendo some years ago, the stone statue exploded into hundreds of pieces. Painstakingly reconstructed, the Buddha is almost exactly like the original, but not quite. “This Buddha is like practice itself,” Victoria reminds us. “You’re always putting yourself back together, each time a little differently.” I can relate to that; we all can. Practice reaches far beyond the yoga or meditation mat to include, ultimately, each moment of our waking lives.

Tea Room with Zen Clock and Timer

After restorative yoga, dinner, and an evening plunge in the hot springs, I’m as relaxed as I’ve ever been, in a comfy bed in my roomy turn-of-the-century cabin, lulled to sleep by the sound of water tumbling over creek stones. I’m awakened before dawn by the boom of a mallet striking a wooden block, calling the entire community to meditate in the zendo. An hour of sitting sorely reminds me of all the muscles it takes to sit that long, that straight. After temple cleaning, my workshop group continues with asana practice, all 25 of us spread out over the zendo, assuming Mountain, Tree, and Triangle poses, the Warrior series, and all the standing poses to fully awaken.

Famished, at breakfast I have a hard time choosing between the offerings: polenta with fresh strawberries, kiwis, and bananas, and the pancakes with raspberry compote. I sit at a table in the dining hall overlooking the creek with three women stem-cell researchers from Stanford University, a woman running for county supervisor, and a Minnesota man who founded a successful marketing firm. Busy lives and type-A personalities are a common bond for many people attracted to retreats.

Later that day, I talk to the gregarious guy from Minnesota. “I’m usually shy and standoffish, judgmental,” he admits to me, “but I decided to pay attention yesterday during sharing time.” He pauses to let a little cynical emphasis grin through. “I felt completely drawn to each story; it made me want to engage with everyone here.” I found myself wishing I’d done that. “Funny what’s possible,” he says.

It’s been a day of intense physical work, experimenting with yoga poses that help strengthen our meditation posture and focus our attention. Lying still, during Savasana, our last pose, Victoria says to us, “Let sounds come to you rather than pulling in the sounds.” I drift in and out, aware of the sound of footsteps on the gravel path, of the squawk of the ubiquitous blue jays, but most of all of our sighing — an ongoing chorus vocalizing the deep pleasure of exertion and release, a natural by-product of the primary work we are doing: following our breath in and out.

The next night at Victoria’s dharma talk, she compares the monks’ winter practice at Tassajara to one long breathing in, or refreshing the practice, and the summer guest season to a long breathing out, or giving to the larger community. I resolve to work on that out-breath.

yoga

Afterward the low light of kerosene lanterns dimly illuminates the path back to my cabin. I stop to watch the new moon rising above steep black slopes.

It is summer solstice night. Looking deeper, into the bright and scattered stars, I feel as if I’m standing in a roofless cathedral, buttressed by the Santa Lucias, part of some great force tilted upward in praise. My body tingles from the demands of the day, fledgling upper-back muscles awakened, all my cells celebrating in active communion. Attention. I whisper the word to myself, like an ancient secret. I raise my arms to the new moon in thankful salutation, take a long breath in, and sigh it westward, down the path of the year’s longest day.

For reservations call (415) 865-1895 or visit sfzc.org/tassajara/.

Adapted from Body + Soul, April/May 2005

meaning and joy

Exhaustion Cause: Lack of Meaning and Joy

Exhaustion Cure: Keep a Journal
Start by recording your sources of disconnection and stress. At the end of each day, write down all the things that created stress in your life, how you reacted to them, and the result of your actions. “After a while, you’ll start to notice patterns,” says Merrell. Then record all the things that bring you joy and pleasure.

Now plot your own route to a more meaningful life. Do less of the things that bring you unhappiness and anxiety, and more of those that make you feel good. You might find, for instance, that a nightly chat with your spouse keeps you grounded, whereas watching TV drains you. You could discover that making time for that dance class is worthwhile even when you’re tired, because you always leave energized. Or that you feel renewed after attending religious services or sitting down to meditate using your Zen Meditation Timer. Follow the trail of the positive, and you’re guaranteed to feel a charge. And if you don’t already, consider practicing random acts of kindness. “Giving to others without expecting anything in return is the highest form of connectivity,” says Merrell.

adapted from Body + Soul, September 2009

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 Now & Zen

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Yellow Flowers. c. 1900, unknown

Exhaustion Cause: Disconnection from Nature

It’s hard to feel tired or anxious while hiking in the wilderness or staring out at a blue expanse of ocean. “Nature has built-in mechanisms for relieving stress,” says Doreen Sweeting, M.D., founder of Psychosomatic Wellness Intuitive Life Coaching. “There’s aromatherapy in the scent of the pine trees and grass, chromatherapy in the colors of the rocks and sky and flowers, sound therapy in the birdsong and wind rustling the leaves.”

Our society, unfortunately, is increasingly cut off from this wellspring of energy. “We live in artificial light. We walk on concrete. We exercise on machines,” Sweeting says. “We go from home to work to the store and back home.”

Exhaustion Cure: Take a Morning Walk

Set your Zen Timepiece to remind you whether you live in a suburb or a bustling city, to take a walk first thing in the morning — if possible, in an area filled with trees. “You’ll feel the energy of nature replenishing you,” says Sweeting. “The tree huggers are on to something.” As often as possible, venture deeper into the woods by planning day hikes or overnight camping trips.

Make an extra effort to notice the changing seasons. “You’ll start to realize the rhythms of nature apply to you, too,” Sweeting concludes. “When you harmonize yourself with nature, you’ll develop a stronger sense of well-being. The body responds quickly to being honored in this way. And it can all start with getting out to the park.”

adapted from Body+ Soul Magazine, September 2009

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(800) 779-6383