The Smallest Habits

Today I was listening to an interview of Dr. Frank Lipman.  If you don't know about him, you can read more here.   He put out a book last year, How to Be Well, which I intend to read ASAP.  (You'll learn soon enough that I'm a bit of a wellness book junkie and have been for decades.)  In the interview he said, "The small ordinary actions we take on a daily basis, or our habits that we perform daily, have extraordinary healing effects."  He went on to list some of those things most of us take for granted, that he believes have really important health effects: walking in the forest, walking barefoot on the beach, being kind to others, practicing gratitude, listening to music, having a pet.  Daily actions.  "It's not just about a low sugar diet, and going to the gym, and sleeping well, which are all very important, but it's those other little things that people don't associate with health, which are hugely beneficial." Wow.  Yes.

My aunt used to say that she could just put her face against a horse, just take in that warm smell, and it would do wonders for her.  It must be genetic . . . there was a time in my life when I was under tremendous strain, but by all outward appearances, I was the healthiest girl around.  I was on the phone with my father, and I was in this hurricane of anxiety that I just couldn't see my way out of.  I was sitting in my car as we talked, and he knew I was at the barn because my daughter had a riding lesson.  All of a sudden, he just cut me short (my father never cuts me short, which is saying a lot because I'm a talker), and said, "Nicole, I think you need to hang up and go for a ride.  I think this is really important."  I argued that it was too late, the lesson was almost over, I had been crying and looked awful, etc., but he insisted.  And what that did was INTERRUPT that stress response.  The stressors were still there, but by walking away from it and getting outside and connecting with life - of the animals, my daughter, the grass, the air, the insects humming - I was able to derail for a while what that stress response was doing to my health. 

It does not have to be a horse.  Sometimes I just step out onto my postage stamp of a front yard in my bare feet.  Sometimes I lie down with one of the kids on the couch and watch The Loud House with them, or I'll ask my son to play the piano.  He doesn't know that's why I'm asking (although, he probably knows why now).  It also doesn't have to be about a specific stressor.  Even the "little" daily stressors can accumulate and settle into our bodies, sending signals to our brains that result in a whole host of issues, from poor digestion to inflammation to hormone imbalances: text notifications and emails piling up and the to-do list and work and money and traffic and environmental toxins. The list goes on. We are emotionally, physically and spiritually bombarded almost constantly.  But if we can establish some of those daily habits Dr. Lipman was talking about, a walk outside, a show of kindness, a moment of gratitude, snuggling up with a person or a pet, he's right . . . it can have tremendous effects on our wellbeing. 

By the way, that's our rabbit Clover up there.  He's the greatest rabbit of all time.  He loves his people, and we adore him.  He's very good at interrupting the human stress response.

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