COLUMN: Finding peace in nature
Splashes of Utah rain tap against the double-paned windows as I lie in my sinking bed, procrastinating getting up and going to school. The cold rain signifies the coming of winter. Many are excited to begin hitting up the slopes, but I’m sure there are many — like myself — who are going to feel like shedding tears, to see the warmth of the golden rays disappear.
A friend of mine was talking to me about how he enjoyed hiking through various forages because he felt that it was a way of letting go of thoughts and issues that were clouding his mind from school and life. Hiking, for him, is a form of meditation.
Meditation is a good way to let go of your current worries and focus on the here and now, as opposed to obsessing about the future. The future is what we have been trained to aim for in our everyday college lives.
“What are you going to major in? What are you going to do after college? Are you going to get your graduate degree? What about a Ph.D.? Where are you going to live?” Etc., etc.
These are only some of the questions that adults grill us about constantly. I haven’t even mentioned boy or girlfriends, weddings, successful marriages, children and all of those other things that impede our young and carefree lives. This is a lot of pressure for college kids. I’m not saying meditation will cure all of these worries that keep drizzling down on our school-logged lives, but I do think it will help immensely.
Meditation can be practiced anywhere, but a place where I personally like to sit would be the outdoors. Venturing from the warm climate of my china-white painted bed, I creep into the morning-dew light and find a place in the wet grass where I will be comfortable and relaxed.
Meditation is a form of relaxation and has been practiced for thousands upon thousands of years. It was originally “meant to help deepen understanding of the sacred and mystical forces of life,” according to the Mayo Clinic website. This goes hand in hand with the outdoors, because nature is a place where we can go and be at peace with the ground that we have grown from. The earth has been within us since we were born and will be what we return to when we die — so why wouldn’t it be an excellent place to relax?
Find a place where you are comfortable. That might be in your back yard, in a park or up in the mountains along side a trickling stream, where you can almost hear the trees breathe through the weaving wind. Sit down, close your eyes, focus on your breathing and being, as the Dalai Lama, Lao Tzu, Buddha and many others who have meditated prior to our generation called being “one with everything.” Doing this helps you let go of that exam you have to cram for tomorrow and will allow you to refocus your thoughts, so when you are done, you will have the ability to bring yourself back to current events.
There are meditation gatherings every Wednesday at noon in TSC Room 335. I went this past Wednesday to this group and felt such a release from the pressures of society that I was able to cross off all the rest of my to-do list, without the feelings of procrastination. I strongly encourage going to these meditation meetings and at least seeing what affect it has on you. After all, it is a great connection to your Mother Earth.
– Allyn Bernkopf is a senior majoring in English with an emphasis in creative writing. She writes, reads and hangs out with Mother Nature. She can be reached at ally.bernkopf@aggiemail.usu.edu