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Institute of Serenity PMB 875, 713 W. Spruce, Deming, NM
Teaching Relaxation, Rest, and Renewal since 2002
Serenity Practice:
Fall 2010
Listen
to the Sounds of Nature
There are internal and external
stressors; and there are internal and external “soothers.”
Into the
category of “internal soothers” fall mental techniques like meditation,
Autogenic Training, reciting a mantra, etc.
“External
soothers” are the things in our external environment that soothe us: The
warm sun on the beach, the scent of freshly mowed grass, the cup of hot
tea in our cold hands, the warmth of the water in the bathtub, and - the
sounds of nature.
The songs
of the birds, the murmur of a creek, the rain falling on the roof, the
rustling wind in the trees are deeply relaxing. In sound therapy, for
example, these sounds are used to reduce anxiety, to calm down, and to
promote sleep.
There is,
however, an almost omnipresent impediment to the listening to nature
sounds:
In order to do so, you need quiet.
And this is, unfortunately, not easy to find.
If you
live in a city, you may have to go a long way before you find a quiet
spot in a park. If you live on a busy street, you hear the traffic
instead of the songs of the birds. If you live in an apartment complex,
chances are high that you are an ear witness to your neighbors’ loud
music, TV, and parties.
Noise
pollution is one of the most underestimated stressors. Some cities and
towns take steps against the seemingly never ending attack on ears. Even
the small desert town where I live has a noise ordinance, albeit seldom
enforced.
Rick Weiss
from The Washington Post published in June 2007 an interesting article,
titled “Noise Takes its Toll on Health and Happiness.”
Weiss
writes that “study after study has found that community noise is
interrupting our sleep, interfering with our children's learning,
suppressing our immune systems and even increasing -- albeit just a
little -- our chances of having a heart attack. It is also tarnishing
the Golden Rule, reducing people's inclination to help one another.”
Weiss
points out that noise affects the ability to learn.
“In a study of students attending an elementary school near noisy train
tracks in New York, for example, researchers showed that by the time the
students reached sixth grade, those whose classrooms faced the train
were a year behind those whose classrooms were on the quiet side of the
building. After noise reduction materials were installed in the
classrooms and around the tracks, reading scores in the two groups
equalized, strengthening the case that noise was the culprit.”
Moreover,
we do not get used to noise. "The idea that people get used to noise is
a myth," the Environmental Protection Agency has reported. "Even when we
think we have become accustomed to noise, biological changes still take
place inside us."
What
can you do if you don’t live in an auditory paradise?
Soundproof your house
Insulate your walls, get double-pane windows, erect an eight-foot
high fence and plant shrubs or trees in front of it
Purchase a fountain to provide the soothing sound of splashing water
in your home
I found a nice website (http://www.tabletopfountainstore.com)
with tabletop fountains for reasonable prices. To mask street noise
they recommend the wall fountains or – if you are on a tighter
budget – the Elegant Lighted Tabletop Waterfall for around
$100.
Have
a CD with nature sounds running in the background
A great website (www.naturesoundsfor.me) lets you “compose” your own sound track. You can then download the
file and burn it onto a CD. All this for free!
Is it too much work for you?
Then listen to the
seven-minute sound track, I have put together! Click the link below!
If you
belong to the fortunate who live in a quiet environment, by all means,
enjoy it! Spend time outside or open the windows and listen to the
silence and the sounds of nature in it!
