Sounds

A specific sound can have a huge impact on our overall wellbeing, our breathing, our heart rate. If you find yourself edging into your sympathetic nervous system every now and again, feeling anxious or fearful, your favourite sound(s) can often make all the difference.

One of my favourite sounds is birdsong. Taking a chair and sitting quietly outside listening to the birds chirping away seems to calm my breathing and my heart rate, placing me in a relaxed frame of mind.

Just like everything else in life however, what one person loves, another may not enjoy so much - birdsong early in the morning when you need more sleep may not be that endearing of course! - I’m sure you can think of at least one sound that you find relaxing right now?

💦 Water trickling down a babbling brook…

🌳 The rustle of the leaves as the breeze blows through the trees…

👶🏻 The giggly gurgling sound your young baby makes when they’re tickled pink!

* Ice cubes hitting each other as a drink gets poured into a glass on a warm summers day…

🔥 Crackling logs in an open fire…

😂 Laughter…

🌊 Waves slowly being drawn back out to sea from the sandy pebbles on the seashore…

🎶 A specific musical instrument, a piano, a flute, a saxophone…

Our senses are incredible at having an effect on our minds. In recent weeks, at one moment or another our minds could have done with a pause button, to give us a chance to put down our mental load but this isn’t always possible! In the absence of a stop/start button on our minds we can focus on slowing our thoughts down, and thinking about what we’re grateful for, when everything gets a bit too much - in labour and in life in general. Hone in on your senses, be it a sound, a smell, a sight, a touch, a taste… anything that calms you down when you need it will be worth its weight in gold.

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