Nature Heals

After hobbling around the unit yesterday,  I decided to space the week's runs with a day off today:  as in,  no running, no nothing!   It's a rare day when I'm not incorporating something into my fitness routine, whether it's my usual training runs, yoga or working with weights (small medicine ball, my favorite fitness toy).    Physical and emotional burnout can come upon us, athlete or not;  when we notice the increase in irritability, malaise, lost stamina, it's time to 'tune in' and 'drop out' of the normal pressures we place upon ourselves and however possible, recharge.

One of the biggest reasons I run is to take myself out into Mother Nature's wide world.  Here in spectacular South Florida,  we are treated to a full-color spectrum all year long.  Even when overcast,  the sub-tropical clime provides a glowing landscape of color and light.   Inside my home base,  I grow an assortment of plants.  I've been a "plant person" since early teens when my mom allowed me to co-op a house plant given to her;  before I graduated high school, I had overtaken an entire south-facing room full of plants (the same year I also read Secret Life of Plants, possibly one of the most influential books for what unfolded in my life in many ways).  In most places I lived up north, I had extensive gardens;  indoors plants provided 'green space'.  Down here,  land and garden is the top of my 'intention list':  for those of you in my area, be aware:  I am actively seeking a little piece of heaven to cultivate into my own therapeutic compound!

Plants, from my humble geranium above, to the big oaks in the park or the palms swaying in the winds, not only feed and sustain us,  they transform us with their capacity to display themselves in their intrinsic beauty, and how they adapt and relate to their environment and each other.  The 'green thumb' is the intuitive sense of tuning in to plants and working with them   Many folks become completely disconnected from Nature-  grow a plant and cultivate a loving relationship with a living being,  take a walk in a park and stroll through the greenery;  your soul will thank you and your Spirit will sing!

So today, as I rest from physical training,  I appreciate the silent beauty of my plant world.  As yoga teaches a mindful position to activate inner energies,  I can absorb the essence of plants to calm and ground me in the world.   Tomorrow, its back out on the roads and a peek into the Great Outdoors where Nature lays Her banquet for all to enjoy.