A friend and I recently visited a favorite walking spot of mine Climbing a windswept hill we crossed a field of wildflowers into a forest of towering pines then descended into a valley where we paused a moment Clouds floated softly above us A stream trickled nearby The only sounds were birdsongs Jason and I stood there silently for fifteen minutes taking it all in As it turns out our actions that day were deeply therapeutic According to research from the University of Derby people who stop to contemplate nature experience higher levels of happiness lower levels of anxiety and [... more]