Get the Most Out of Summer: Make Time for Being

Remember how summer felt when you were a kid?  Long, lazy days interspersed with swimming and spontaneous fun, nary a chore in sight.  You can’t go back in time, but you can capture the essence of those good old days.  If your summer calendar is bursting with activities, tasks, trips, and plans, make space for one more thing: being.

In a culture obsessed with doing, it’s easy to spend your days (and nights) in production mode, crossing things off your list and worrying about what’s coming down the pike.  Being, on the other hand, triggers the relaxation that’s essential to health and well-being.  It helps you enjoy life more.

The key to shifting gears is getting out of your head and into your body.  As adults, we often experience objects and events by thinking about them, but you can also experience these things directly, through your senses.  Whether you’re in a backyard garden, walking under tall trees buzzing with cicadas, or feeling sweat roll down your back on a sticky afternoon, let yourself experience what’s happening, without judgment and without allowing your thoughts to jump ahead to tomorrow.

If you need a reminder, cue up Otis Redding: “I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay, watching the tide roll away, just a sittin’ on the dock of the bay, wasting time….” That’s a great theme song for “being,” all year round! 

The Wellness Tip of the Week is from Cleveland Clinic’s 360-5 Daily Wellness Tips.