Pumpkins, witches, halloween, harvest, bonfires - it’s all happening or soon to happen and it’s all magical and it’s all outside.
There’s a magic outside that’s constantly changing yet never ending and, according to studies …it works. Twenty minutes in the countryside is all it takes to benefit your mind and body; to lower blood pressure and increase well being. It’s like a feel good spell.
So, take a walk in the hills; along a river bank or through a forest and you’ll unconsciously relax. All you need is the rustle of leaves or bird song or the smell of pine trees or the sound of silence.
Those of us who are lucky enough to live in the country know all of this already without knowing it! It’s that moment when you stop mid stride on a track up a hillside or in a forest or by a loch or wandering across the garden and just take every thing around you in. It’s that moment when the light on a hillside makes you think anything is possible. It’s when the clouds seems to create wildly abstract patterns in the sky and dance in front of you. It’s when you breathe in slowly and deeply and think WOW. Sometimes the wow has to come out!
Autumn is one of the most dramatic times of the year because you can hear the season change. Leaves crackle and rustle underfoot when you walk. Remember back to childhood when kicking up the leaves was such fun? Well just try it as an adult! Walk through deep rivers of fallen leaves and slide your feet to make a trough (are you remembering yet?) then kick them high and watch them float down! It was amazing once and it can be again!
One problem with all of this? We’re supposed to be getting the gardens ready for winter and we keep stopping, just stopping and staring into the distance or at a particularly amazing leaf or a rose in the last bloom of autumn …however, it is noticeable that everyone here seems very happy!
The benefits of being in the open countryside or the great outdoors apply in the evenings as well! You still have the sounds and smells just different ones. Listen to the barn owls, look out for bats and watch the sky.
Light the fire pit, grab and cup of hot chocolate and a blanket and sit in the garden watching stars and, if you’re lucky with clear skies, the latest aurora borealis show!
Well-being is all about being well!
