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Areas › Your body › Grounding and settling
Hardly anyone thinks to arrange what is in front of them, and it is one of the easier things to change. Put a picture where you actually sit. Turn the brightness down at night. When you are flat, do the opposite: open the curtains fully, go where there is colour and movement, look out at a busy street. A familiar face works differently from a nice view, because it brings in the part of you that responds to people.
It is God who has given you the earth for a dwelling place and the heavens for a canopy (Quran 40:64). You are meant to be housed by what surrounds you, so arranging what you look at is not a trivial concern.
غافر
ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ ٱلۡأَرۡضَ قَرَارࣰ ا وَٱلسَّمَآءَ بِنَآءࣰ وَصَوَّرَكُمۡ فَأَحۡسَنَ صُوَرَكُمۡ وَرَزَقَكُم مِّنَ ٱلطَّيِّبَٰتِۚ ذَٰلِكُمُ ٱللَّهُ رَبُّكُمۡۖ فَتَبَارَكَ ٱللَّهُ رَبُّ ٱلۡعَٰلَمِينَ
It is God who has given you the earth for a dwelling place and the heavens for a canopy. He shaped you, formed you well, and provided you with good things. Such is God your Lord, so glory be to Him, the Lord of the Worlds
Qur’an 40:64read it in the library
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
A narrative review of the physiological effects of being outdoors in nature reports fairly consistent short term drops in stress markers, with the caveat that most of the studies are small. It supports the broad idea that what you take in through your eyes changes your physiology. It does not tell you how a photograph indoors compares with an actual walk.
Haluza D, Schönbauer R, Cervinka R. (2014). Green perspectives for public health: a narrative review on the physiological effects of experiencing outdoor nature.. International journal of environmental research and public health doi
Strength of evidence: long taught, never tested. Widely used and long taught. No trial has established that it works.
Whatever fills your field of view is a steady message to the body about what sort of place it is in.
Two senses rarely get named: the one that tells you where your limbs are, and the one that tells you which way is up. Pressing your feet into the floor or slowly turning your head feeds both.
When you are wound up and when you are flat, you need opposite things. Sweet tastes, soft light, slow rocking and steady weight bring you down; sharp smells, crunchy food, bright images and quick movement bring you up.
When you have gone numb rather than frantic, try a long low sound on the out breath. Voo, drawn out until the breath runs out, so your lips and chest buzz with it.