Man! Ever feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders?

 

 

Maybe I’m just complaining because I’m used to it. I probably ought to get back to counting my blessings, suck it up, and just get grateful. It could be so much worse. Other people have it worse than I do, right? Does any of this sound familiar? You know, there are times I can talk myself out of a funk or do an exercise, or even smack my brain around a little and change my attitude. It works. Sometimes.

What I really need to do when I get like that is sit down, write down some of my thoughts and work through the funkiness. Writing the thoughts down is like venting to a friend, but even better because you can say absolutely anything you want, and you also can’t be interrupted! The downside is that it takes a little time. Writing a few things on my grateful list is good too, and that only takes a minute, maybe two. And if I’m really pressed for time, I can do that exercise I described in this post two weeks ago – just doing the breathing only takes a few seconds!

 

 

Now, I want to make sure that I acknowledge the truth here. One great thing about humans is our resilience and ability to press on through adversity. But sometimes I think that means we downplay the struggle we are facing, especially when that challenge is daunting and not easily fixed. Like a global pandemic maybe? How about centuries of racial inequity that has just resurfaced in the consciousness of your home country? No matter how well you are coping with any or all of the things going on right now, the weight of constantly managing your thoughts and feeling can get heavy after a while. Personally, I can start to feel this bone-weary exhaustion, this fatigue that sleep just doesn’t seem to help.

 

I’ve got another way for you to get a little space, a little lightness in your spirit. For this one, you’ve got to go outside. Now, getting out is almost foolproof in changing my attitude – just breathing the air for a few minutes can lift my mood. But there’s another aspect to it that I’ve noticed is really helpful at changing my perspective.

Look up.

Have you ever noticed that between sitting at your computer, walking around your house, running errands, even exercising that you rarely (if ever!) look up? You might look out in front of you and you’ll catch the view of the sky in your wider view, but when’s the last time you really looked up at the sky? I’d bet not very recently. I mean, you can’t do it while you’re walking because you’d trip. So you’d have to stop what you were doing and take a moment to be still. Can’t remember doing it? You should give it a try – you might like it.

 

Here’s what happened when I stopped to look up. I was sitting on my yoga bolster for my morning meditation time when I opened my eyes for a moment. I looked out through the top of the window, and from my vantage point from the floor, I saw one of the last few bright stars in the faint morning dawn. The contrast of the star against the pale blue, framed by the dark leaves of the trees in my backyard was breathtaking. It gave me a minute to get out of my own head, with all the noisy thoughts busily marching through (interrupting my meditation!) and just admire what was right outside my window. I went to my back steps and took this picture to show you…

 

See the star?

 

Remember I said that I find that being outside helps my attitude? Well, I’ve started making a conscious effort to spend more time in my backyard. Going on walks has always been great for a mental boost, but sometimes I just want to relax in the fresh air. I really had avoided the backyard because I’m a mosquito magnet, but after I went on my birthday retreat and felt how good being in the trees felt to my soul, I knew I had to find a more easily accessible spot. I mean, I can’t just pop off on a retreat whenever I want, right? Actually, yes I can. I set up my swing chair under the tree in our back yard, and with the canopy of the tree hanging over me and the neighbor’s bushes in front of me, it’s almost like I’m in my own little green escape. And then I lean back and look up. It’s magical…

 

The view from my swing chair…

 

Whether you have a beautiful green space in your backyard or not, you can find beauty and space in looking up. No matter where you are, in the city or suburb or country, the sky has something to watch. Cloud formations, the brewing of a storm, twinkling stars, expansive blue – there’s something about awesome and calming about the sky. Take a moment and look up!

 

When’s the last time you looked up at the sky for more than a second or two? What do you see when you look up now? Please share in the comments below!

 

And here’s the link for this week’s new Weight Loss: Going Deeper series – we’re going to practice Feeling Fullness. So if you find yourself eating until you’re stuffed and miserable and don’t know why you just did that to yourself, come through!