Daily Prompt – Re-springing Your Step: Tell us about the last experience you had that left you feeling fresh, energized, and rejuvenated. What was it that had such a positive effect on you?
Honestly, the last experience I had that left me feeling fresh, energized, and rejuvenated was the last time I took a bath. Yes, it’s that simple. A bath. Enveloped by warm water. Warmth that may well be therapeutic, may alleviate feelings of social isolation. According to research by John A. Bargh and Idet Shalev:
“the physical-social warmth association may be a boon to the therapeutic treatment of syndromes that are mainly disorders of emotion regulation”
~ J Bargh, and I Shalev (2011). The substitutability of physical and social warmth in daily life. Emotion DOI: 10.1037/a0023527
Walks in which I notice natural beauty – the beauty of a flower, tree branches, or the sky – also leave me feeling fresh, energized, rejuvenated, and connected to something greater than myself -nature.
What strikes me is that both are really easy to do, yet I do not do them regularly. Bathe – feel fresh, energized, rejuvenated, and less alone. Walk – feel fresh, energized, and rejuvenated, and quite literally, grounded.
The question in mind is, when did I last do so? Did I take a warm bath yesterday? The day before? I do not recall. The last time I took a walk? I know that I did so over the holidays. Since then I’ve struggled with lingering stomach flu symptoms. Still, I could take a short walk. Look at the sky. Enjoy the beauty of a flower. Not to mention spend some quality time with my husband who with our two dogs eagerly awaits me to join him on a walk.
Perhaps today I will do both – walk and bathe. Now that’s an accomplishment.
UPDATE: Walk with husband, but no dogs: check (even took some photographs). Warm bath: check. Fresh, energized, and rejuvenated: check, check, and check.
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