Recharging

How do you recharge your batteries? How do you de-clutter your brain? You do, don’t you? It’s an important tool to maintaining your sanity in this society of ever-increasing momentum. I know many meditate or practice yoga. Those don’t tend to expend enough energy for me and so I find it hard to settle into the practice. Getting out in nature – mountain biking, snow shoeing, cross country skiing or just plain old hiking – is my favorite means of maintaining mental health. My main point in this blog is not how you recharge but making sure you recognize the importance and benefits!

We all have our daily chatter, chaos and mental clutter. I work with a lot of brides that are either working full time or finishing up a college degree (sometimes both!) and they add wedding planning to their plate. So far I’ve seen them all survive the craziness, but it is helpful to carve out a little quiet time to maintain balance.

Breaking your routine, however briefly, is important. Slow down. Stop even! Just be still. That’s where nature comes in for me. I stand by a babbling brook, close my eyes and let the magical sound carry me to a place of stillness. Or I sit on a rock, eyes fixed on a distant horizon of peaks. And even as I’m moving along the trail I let my mind fixate on the wonders around me rather than life’s usual distractions. The stillness is therapeutic.

Alternatively, sometimes I’m caught up in something that I need to think through and process. Rather than doing that in the background while working on something else (I failed Multi-tasking 101), I find it much more productive to let these thoughts process and sort out as I move through the beauty of nature. Or maybe this works for me because I’m freeing myself of the “burden” of the cell phone and computer.

So, if you’re planning your wedding in northern New Mexico why don’t you consider arriving a day early and find a beautiful spot to go for a recharging hike. Your mind will be clearer for the big day. If you’re eloping it should be easy. If yours is a big wedding, utilize your attendants and send them off to do all the last minute errands!

When’s the last time you were in the mountains to see the full moon rise behind the peaks or to simply stare at its reflection in a beaver pond?