I cannot overstate how beneficial it is to get out of the house every day and spend some time in nature. Ditto for exercise. It doesn’t need to be a marathon, a simple walk or some yoga will change your brain chemistry and improve your mood.
Here’s one of my favorite meditations to do while walking. It’s called 5-4-3-2-1. Find five things you can see, then five things you can hear, then five things you can feel physically or notice in your body. Then four of each category, three, etc. You may not be able to find different things for the whole meditation, but just focusing on these three areas: sight, hearing, and bodily awareness is quite calming. You’re concentrating on something other than your divorce and getting a mini-mental vacation.
Focusing on nature is helpful in other ways, too. It shifts our perspective away from the details of our own situation and connects us to something far greater: the universe, God, spirit, etc. For a few minutes, we can enlarge our vision, maybe even feeling joy at simply being alive. Take a deep breath and just be. The challenges will still be there, but right this moment you can get in touch with all the goodness life has to offer.
