The Beauty Walk

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Nature’s Anti-depressant

Have you ever walked in the Sky Bird woods and felt a deep sense of peace and beauty? Have you ever walked by the ocean and sensed the power and majesty of its beauty, filling you with inspiration? Have you ever hiked a mountain and, when you reached the top, felt awe at the expansive vista before you took your breath away? Nature is a great resource for reconnecting with your beauty. The nature of your nature in nature comes to life as life blooms naturally around you. We are beings of nature; it is our natural state to commune with the elements and see ourselves as a part of the whole and at one with all that is. Aligning with the beauty of nature is aligning with your nature, your sense of well-being, and natural beauty.

When we move our bodies, and our bodies are made for movement, we allow exciting feel-good chemicals to course throughout our bodies. Endorphins are our body’s natural anti-depressants; they are stimulated by movement and positive emotions. They pick you up and lighten up your mood as you get your inner engines burning. Activating endorphins through physical activity and positive feelings and thoughts can shift your burden of depression in no time at all. Living Tired.

The amazing thing about the Beauty Walk as a means of fighting off depression is this: not only are you releasing the feel-good chemicals in your body, but you are also infusing yourself with the beauty and magnificence of life around you.

The Beauty Walk is exactly what you imagine it to be; it is walking and moving and breathing in the bounty of life that surrounds you. Becoming one with it all. The truth of every human being and every particle on this planet is that we are all made of the same rich, radiant substance of the Universe. All that is of beauty outside of you is also within you. You can never be separate from your source of beauty.

With depression, we tend to sink into ourselves, shutting off the light within us and shutting out the light of the world around us. We feel disconnected and disengaged. Taking yourself on a beauty walk is a way to reconnect to the abundance of life and re-engage in the world. Just noticing the rustling of the leaves in the tree and thinking of how wonderful that sound is, as if the tree is speaking to you or watching a bird fly overhead, with strength and speed as it soars in the sky, that bird is alive and moving with purpose.

Take that energy inside yourself, like drinking up the experience, and make it your own. Like the bird, you can move with strength and purpose. The beautiful blue of the sky, the light of the moon, and the vibrant colors of flowers are all part of nature’s profound beauty and perfection of life, just as you are, just as every human being is. Take in the deep beauty of nature and equate yourself to it, mingle with it, become it, and allow it to become you, too. This beauty is on the inside.

One of the greatest discoveries of my life, and possibly the greatest thing I do for myself, my body, mind, and spirit, is to take my ‘Beauty Walks.’ The Native American Indians have an expression that I have loved since the day I first discovered it. I saw it on a bumper sticker once, and I have been looking for that bumper sticker ever since. It said, “Walk in Beauty.” How wonderful is that?