The Anxiety Mind vs. The Quiet Earth
Anxiety always starts in the mind. The anxiety mind is so busy and loud! At times, it can seem unrelenting. When your mind gets in that mode, the anxiety mind can so easily:
- rev up
- worry
- think and over-think
- plan and over-plan
- organize and over-organize
- catastrophize
- obsess
- ruminate
- over-analyze
How the Quiet the Anxiety Mind?
I had a chance to quiet my busy mind at a Meditation and Yoga Retreat recently! It was at a beautiful retreat center which is right on the beach of Lake Michigan alongside forests and meadows full of wildflowers. It is such an incredibly peaceful place which I have visited many times for retreats. It’s like a home away from home. So peaceful and grounding.
This gorgeous art statue struck me, and I’ve been pondering its message: Deep Peace of the Quiet Earth. Most of us do find nature peaceful, calming, soothing and grounding, but why? There is science behind that (perhaps for another post) but also many of us have that personal experience of relaxation being in nature.
Our bodies respond to the Deep Peace of the Quiet Earth with nervous system healing and calming.
For me, the key word here is “QUIET.” The Earth simply exists and it does its thing. Wind blows, trees grow leaves and drop leaves and go dormant and grow again the next spring, the tide rolls in and the tide rolls out, seasons come and seasons go. The Earth and Mother Nature just simply do what they do innately. I wonder if maybe the Earth is quiet (and therefore calming and relaxing) because it does not have the busyness and loudness of a human mind?
Does The Quiet Earth Over-think?
The Earth doesn’t think about: “Well should I grow grass right now or should I wait three days? How will I fit in all the growing I have to do this week; how will I get it all done? Should I do a pro/con analysis before I decide when to grow? What will people think of me if I grow grass tomorrow instead of today…” ETC!
The Earth is extremely quiet when compared to our minds!
The Quiet Earth doesn’t ask anything of us. It doesn’t blame us or judge us or overanalyze. No wonder I got so much peace and calm from being in Mother Nature.
For those of us in warmer seasons right now, I say: Carpe Diem! Deep Peace. Quiet Earth. Let’s enjoy it and soak up maximum peace, grounding, and nervous system calming.