Destress the Holiday at the Japanese Garden

Destress the Holiday in a Garden by Cat Wilson

It’s time for joy, family, and holiday fun! However, the holidays can be stressful. Let’s take a walk.

Managing holidays, maintaining technical things like phones and calendars and computers, and adding holiday activities can create an overactive brain. Coming to that once a year gathering and talking to people you haven’t seen for a year can really challenge the nerves. In the meantime, you keep going and going and going.  It builds up. Stress doesn’t help. It complicates thinking.

Destress the Holiday

When your brain feels full, take it out for a breather. One of the easiest ways to destress is to take a walk.  The Japanese Garden is such a delight. You can stroll around ponds, horticulture, beautiful walk ways, and it feels wonderful.
Family came to visit a few years ago.  We knew that there were different opinions, so we worked to bring our loved ones to places where the atmosphere was natural and open and healing. Gardens, parks, and forests in Portland are amazing!  We visited several, and my very favorite was the Japanese Tea Garden. You can’t help but slow your step along the beautiful greenery. People feel vitalized whether they are young children or adults in their prime.

Japanese Garden Path by  Cat Wilson

Japanese Garden Path by
Cat Wilson


You breath in deeply and a natural inner spirit awakens and celebrates nature with you. Green is a vitalizing and energizing color that brings you back to normal.  Recently, a colleague mentioned to me that just touching a plant for two minutes helped busy people to concentrate and focus.
When scheduling the Thanksgiving meal, plan fun time for friends and family to stroll through a garden. Before or after the meal it can be a wonderful way to destress the holiday.
Give yourself a gift of time. Create a time on your calendar. Place a note on the household mirrors with an invitation to a walk through a park.  Get directions and read it prior to the walk, so you are comfortable with the path. When it’s time, pack a few snacks and take yourself and others out for a fabulous walk to enjoy nature.
You are worthy of a relaxing and loving holiday. Happy Thanksgiving!
Blessings,
Cat, Rich, & Cyn