My therapist told me to try 'forest bathing' and I got chased by a goose

I was trying to de-stress from a brutal client week, so I went to Central Park to 'immerse myself in nature' like she said. The goose clearly didn't get the memo about my mindfulness, and now I'm more stressed. Anyone have a less aggressive way to unplug?

3 comments

3 Comments

milesbarnes12d ago

Read an article about how watching fish in an aquarium lowers blood pressure. Seems safer than dealing with territorial waterfowl. Maybe try a pet store or a museum with a big tank. Honestly, just sitting on a bench with your eyes closed for ten minutes works better than most of this stuff. Geese are basically feathered middle managers.

matthew_west12d ago

My cousin in Vermont swears by a thing called 'earthing', which is just walking barefoot on grass for like twenty minutes. The science seems shaky but the idea of cold dirt under your feet is pretty hard to beat for pulling you out of your own head. It's free and the worst you'll step on is a pinecone, not an angry bird with a personal vendetta. Maybe try that in a quiet corner of the park before you write off the whole outdoors.

averyc9412d ago

But what if the goose chase was part of the process? Sometimes a little adrenaline shakes you out of a bad headspace better than quiet sitting. Maybe you needed that weird fight or flight moment to actually forget about work for a second.