My favorite place to walk is around a beautiful lake close to my neighborhood. It’s called Bass Lake and it has a well-marked nature trail around it perfect for hikers, bikers and dog walkers. On any given day, I commune with the ducks, Canadian geese, white egrets, blue herons, box turtles and tons of birds.
When I was recovering from surgery, I considered it a triumph if I could walk down to the lake, sit on a bench and stare at the water, and then walk back to my house. But since I am now five months past my second surgery, I regularly walk down to and around the lake almost every day which takes about an hour.
I usually walk around the lake the same way. I head to the right and walk the trail counterclockwise.
But one day last week, I decided to switch things up a little bit. When I got down to the lake, I headed left and decided to walk the lake, in my mind, “backwards.”
I noticed as I walked that there was an uphill portion that required a bit more effort (but wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be), and then a segment through the woods that was shady and peaceful. I usually encounter those sections at the end of my walk, so it felt different to encounter those areas at the beginning.
On this particular day, I looked over to the right in the woodsy area, and I saw four deer! I couldn’t believe my eyes. For the hundreds of times that I have walked around that lake, I’ve never seen deer. I stopped in my tracks and quietly admired them. I thanked them for showing up and for reminding me of their grace and gentleness.
After I said good-bye to the deer, I kept walking along the path, and I noticed an opening to the right that I had never seen before. I decided to investigate, and it was a super short trail that led to a clearing that gave me a gorgeous new perspective on the lake. A vantage point I had never seen before. There were leaves overhead and trees on both sides of me and it gave me the picture perfect shot. (The header image for this post!)
As I finished up my walk that day, I noticed how my body felt. My senses were heightened. I noticed different flowers, different trees and different views of the lake from any I had seen before. Because of my “backwards approach,” I was more aware of my surroundings.
I noticed that my mind was sharper, and when I returned to my office that morning, I was able to complete several hours of really productive work.
Try some of these changes in perspective and see what arises.
There are real benefits of using our brains in different ways. Dr. Daniel Amen talks about this in his book, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life. He suggests that there are different activities we can do to engage the brain in a way that is healthy and healing for us.
Some examples you can try:
- Drive a new route to work
- Try a new exercise routine
- Order something new to eat at your favorite restaurant
- Play Scrabble or Sudoku
- Do yoga or tai chi
- Write with your non-dominant hand
- Learn a new language
- Walk backwards to the mailbox
- Cook new recipes at home
So where in your life do you need a fresh perspective?
Perhaps you…
Have a stubborn health issue that isn’t resolving.
- Do you need to see a different doctor?
- An alternative practitioner?
- Dialogue with your body and ask what it needs?
Feel stuck with a major decision in your business or career.
- Could you call a friend who asks great questions?
- Read a book about creativity?
- Schedule a session with a coach?
Are grappling with relationship dynamics that just don’t seem to be changing.
- Can you try and put yourself in the other person’s shoes?
- Can you look at the bigger picture of what the two of you have to learn together?
- Can you gather new and interesting resources to improve your communication?
Wishing you a week filled with new possibilities!
Elizabeth