How to get over stress

Stress is as common as breathing.  There are those who handle it well thriving on the raised blood pressure and a racing heart. But for the rest of us mere mortals the best piece of advice that I’ve ever been given on moving beyond the anguish is “hug a tree and scream”. Upon hearing it I did chuckle but there’s truth in it.

Now to find a tree worthy of hugging I went all the way to Big Basin Redwoods State Park in California which consists of 18,000 acres of ancient forest. The towering trees are nearly as old as time itself with some being 2000 years old. 2000 years old!

Wondering through the forest was an amazing experience especially for someone like me who is more used to dealing with crowds of commuters and polluted air. It had a stillness that only nature can create while the air held the gentle scent of Redwood. But it was slightly tricky to walk through as the floor was covered in roots, branches and leaves. I know, what else was I expecting of a forest.

For those times when life does get a bit intense a break in nature helps put things in perspective. In this case being dwarfed by sky scraping trees made me appreciate my place in this giant world.