The Importance of Finding Your Happy Place

We all need a place we can go to in our minds for comfort and to feel calm.  My relaxation theory is that if we visit that place in our heads, we’ll feel better.  Some people imagine an ocean beach, with calm waves returning to the shore and warm breezes blowing in their hair and the smell of salt in the air.  Some people contemplate their family home where they grew up, maybe their childhood bedroom.  For some, that is their happy place.  I’ve always had luck with imagining myself out in the woods in a rustic environment with no one around for many miles surrounded by trees of all kinds their leaves dripping in cool water. Where did I first get this wooded vision, this quiet and wonderful utopia in my mind’s eye?  Well, when I was 23, I went to Norway to study at The University of Oslo.  I became friends with a sweet guy named Arthur, who took me to his family cabin.  The place was primitive, but beautiful; it was without electricity and running water.  We had to light candles to see in the night.  There was a loft, where Arthur and I slept, and his sister and her husband slept downstairs.  We ate fresh shrimp and drank wine and relieved ourselves in a nearby wooden outhouse.  The cabin was built on a little lake in the mountains.  In the morning, we bathed in the freezing cold water. This place, this quiet, clean spot became my happy place to which I mentally travelled when I needed to unwind.  All through graduate school, when I became stressed, I’d â...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Creativity Happiness Mindfulness Personal Stress Holiday Imagination Meditation Nature outdoor recreation Peacefulness Personal Growth Personal Time Relaxation stress reduction Tension Vacation Visualization weekend get Source Type: blogs