There are two directions we can go with our attention, inward or outward. Both can be powerful. Say you’re on your hike. Going inward with our attention, or introverting, can have truly positive effects. If we are performing creative problem solving on the aspects of our life, it’s a true de-stressor, because it relieves anxiety. But what if going inward results in the opposite? Just a never ending circuit of ruminating about all the things that are not going right in our lives… By the time you get to the end of your hike, you might find yourself even more stressed because of where we put our attention. You may not even have seen a thing that you walked by!

But there is a solution: The other direction. Move your attention outward. Look around you as you walk or hike. Consciously acknowledge what you see, what you hear, what you feel. It could be new flowers you see sprouting, the gurgle of the of a spring that is running, the breeze on your skin. You are where you are.