The Cure for the Anxious Mind.

On By Dr. Andrea DinardoIn Coping Strategies, Happiness, Health Psychology, Mindfulness, Peace

image

Nature is a beautiful way to stop the monkey mind in its’ tracks.

What is the monkey mind? 🐒 🧠

“Buddha described the human mind as being filled with drunken monkeys, jumping around, screeching, chattering, carrying on endlessly. Fear is an especially loud monkey –  screaming out all the things that could go wrong.” Source: HuffPost 

When we’re caught in a loop of anxious thoughts, our amygdala goes into overdrive. Causing us to get stuck in the basement of our brains (the limbic system) where our stressful thoughts go around and around. With no end to the downward spiral in sight.

B R E A T H I N G    S P A C E

Time in nature gives us a chance to catch our breath, to see the light, to realize there’s a way out of this never-ending rumination loop.

monkey mind 4

The Healing Power of Nature 🍃

The impact of nature on the human spirit is so profound that a hallmark study in 1984 showed that patients who had a room with a view healed faster than patients without a view. A mere glimpse of nature was enough to enhance their resilience.

Hope 🌷

Nature shifts our thoughts. Expands our awareness. Gives us hope. Lifts us up from the basement of our brains (amygdala) to the penthouse (cerebral cortex) where all solutions are possible.

”And into the forest I go to lose my mind and find my soul.” 

Related Video: Grounding Techniques

 How do you soothe tame your anxious monkey mind?

34 thoughts on “The Cure for the Anxious Mind.”

    1. Thank you! I wanted to take readers on a journey from darkness to light. Helping you and me (equally) to realize that even though problems may be complex — the solutions are often simple (on repeat). The key is to take the first step. Mother Nature will heal (almost) all the rest. 🌹❤️

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  3. It is so true about nature being a relaxing soothing ointment in our lives.
    I have done staycations and even traveled to other large cities.
    It doesn’t soothe my soul.
    Now, I go on a vacation where I am surrounded by nature and the beauty of this wordl
    and it is rejuvenating.

    Good post. Have a great day.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. I once timed it. It’s an 18 minute drive from downtown Colorado Springs (near where I live) up Ute Pass to the nearest Colorado Wilderness. If it were not for the fact my closest friends come first, the number one reason, Andrea, that I live in this town would be it’s easy access to wilderness. The value you place on wilderness resonates with me.

    Beyond that, I once read of a study done some years ago that found the amydala’s of depressed and anxious patients were firing about twice as long as healthy patients in response to the same stimuli.

    Years ago, I went some months spending hours each day sitting in meditation in natural settings — such as by my favorite lake at the time. No TV, no radio for months. Just four to eight or more hours a day meditating in nature.

    You know, after about two weeks, you find the flight of a single midge dramatic and fascinating. Your sense of time becomes tuned to the slowly changing colors in a sunrise. And — more to the point — you can calmly deal with anything life throws at you. Nothing makes you fearful or anxious. You can deal with anything.

    Superb post! One of my favorites now. Thank you so much for it!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. Nature can calm our “Ego”

    Go many miles into nature. If you run into a bear, do you announce who you are to him. The bear does not care what our name is, who we think we are.

    Out in nature who we are loses importance.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. Pingback: The Power of Nature to Combat Anxiety, Dread, and Fear – Café Philos: an internet café

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Google photo

You are commenting using your Google account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s