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Best Rx for getting more sleep: Get Out in Nature


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According to author Jon Barron,  you can boost immunity, reduce blood pressure, ease insomnia, and heal the body and mind by simply being in nature. Find out why you should be doing more "forest bathing" like the Japanese, called shinrin-yoku.

 

https://www.jonbarron.org/happiness-mental-health/best-rx-get-out-nature?utm_campaign=Daily%20Health%20Tips%2C%20Mon-Fri&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=92564708&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9wo0iAwgTcXbAbfg5hsJGPRdtkd8PGlneh2jCctDMCEdli8ITeOHlk-snAwYmbCYDsVrvQGcf7o8yAsCipW-Ns_V-Zzg&utm_content=92564708&utm_source=hs_email

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Even when I feel like crud, my walks in the wooded park near me leave me feeling better. I focus on all the small potential sources of joy: the yellow and purple wildflowers, the sound the stream makes, every single dog, the smile of a passerby, and the person out there who is struggling but pushing themselves all the same. And it sure helps with sleep-both the nature and the exercise.
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I'm still walking 5-6 miles a day , the dr said it would restart my nervous system about 18 months ago and I had to make myself get out of bed to do it but I dont think I will ever stop , I was bed ridden for all 5 years of my taper and in bad shape before that .

I am also back to working horses, not any outside horses yet but my own for now to see when I might be able to start taking outside horses again . 4 hours a day in 100+ heat . its tough but makes me feel better . My insomnia is still weird but still .

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BlueDuchess,

 

I love your words at the end of your signature that you're not waiting around anymore. Even though it can be very difficult, I think it's far more empowering to get going when in wd. In the thick of it you can feel absolutely terrible physically and mentally. But inactivity just gives you more time to focus on the misery. I would force myself out the door when weak, nauseated, and sleep deprived with the words like a mantra, "This is how I'm healing my body and brain." I kept revisiting this image that I was building a house that I wanted to live in-the "house" of my body and mind. I was having to dig a hole, pour the foundation, and build it board by board but by gosh, it was going to be a better place to live in than when I started. And it is. I was granted permanent handicapped parking because of the severity of my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome that was exacerbated by all of the drugs. Now I walk, hike, lift weights and park wherever I want. I still deal with significant fatigue but it's not keeping me from having a life anymore. The gift of the insomnia is that the desperation to sleep forced me to try exercise and I discovered I could do it. I learned that I was, and am, much stronger than I thought. We *all* are.

 

MT

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Great post MTFan as always..

 

I started lifting weights again with my son.  I used to be an avid weight lifter in my 20s and 30s, but when the 40s and 50s hit, I got lazy and accepted the "dad bod."

 

Now that I am closer to 60 than 50, I am getting close to being in the best condition and strength of my life.

 

I owe that all to WD and insomnia too.  Going through healing and recovery from Benzos made other things in life that I used to believe were pure misery absolutely enjoyable.

 

I love that I can lift more weight than my 16 year old son...LOL

 

Some great advice I got from Siggy was to give isnomnia and WD the middle finger and live your life as normal as possible.  Don't wait until you feel better.  Just do the best you can do given the rotten circumstances.  It helped tremendously.  Instead of wallowing in self pity and despair, I got out and lived life the best I could until I healed.

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Love this post! As you guys have mentioned, I too decided awhile back to enter back into the things I used to love even if the "feeling" wasn't there yet, and even if I felt rough (of course giving myself permission on the horrendous days to sit out if needed..). But its true you cannot wait till you are healed to go back to life - you won't have a life to return to!!

 

I swear by nature. I am blessed with a very deep private yard with a creek in the back. I am out there a lot. I spend a lot of time in my veggie garden. I foraged for berries this year.

The other day my husband asked me to kayak with him in our back creek (it goes for miles...). Physically I know I overdid it, but being out there was restorative in other ways.

Fresh air and sunshine is always a cure and not just for sleep! Put your bare feet in the grass and soil ( provided its not sprayed with chemicals..).

 

I've lived in both rural and urban centers throughout my life. I can honestly say i'm glad I'm in a smaller town right now. If I lived in a city during recovery I think it would kill me. So hats off to those of you who are doing this in the city!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wow... This thread is really inspiring and perhaps exactly what I needed to hear right now.

 

I'll be 5 years off Klon end of September and I am still in rough, rough shape (made worse by finding out I also had silent celiac all my life and the switch to gluten free/grain free has been brutal). I have to admit that before COVID and the lockdown I felt I was doing better... Since COVID I barely get out anymore and for the past 2-3 months I've felt absolutely miserable. I keep thinking it's the celiac and/or food making me sick, but maybe my body can't work properly because I'm not moving?

 

BlueDutches, may I ask more about your doctor's theory that you had to start walking every day (and build yourself up to 5-6 miles) in order to reboot your brain and nervous system? Perhaps that's what I should do too. I'm not able to walk far or long, but if anyone could help give me some advice as to how to go from mostly bedridden to walking everyday I'd be grateful.

 

I was a very active teen and 20s (until this benzo nightmare hit) with working out and boxing and running. Now I don't move at all. It's going to be the fifth year of this madness and I just can't take it anymore. Everything I eat makes me sick. Every supplement makes me sick. I can't sleep until the wee hours of the morning. I can't exercise, workout or even stretch for F sakes! I'm just not getting any better. I'm desperate.

 

Could simple walking (near nature when I can) be the answer? I just can't take this life anymore. There's too much to do, too much to enjoy, too much beauty and magic out there. I want to be a part of it.  :'(

 

Thank you Buddies. Much love from me.

 

 

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I am fortunate to have a national park right in my backyard...literally...I walk out the back door and the end of my backyard is park property with a nice trail. 

 

It is a wonderful trail all year round.  Great bird watching, flat sections,hilly sections.  I just take my time and breathe in all the nature.

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  • 1 month later...

Wow... This thread is really inspiring and perhaps exactly what I needed to hear right now.

 

I can't exercise, workout or even stretch for F sakes! I'm just not getting any better. I'm desperate.

 

Could simple walking (near nature when I can) be the answer? I just can't take this life anymore. There's too much to do, too much to enjoy, too much beauty and magic out there. I want to be a part of it.  :'(

 

Thank you Buddies. Much love from me.

 

Donnie, I've been off BB for a while and just saw this. I understand those feelings of weakness and like you can't do anything. But yes, I think walking, in/near nature when possible, could have a big effect on you. You asked how to start. I started with 5 minute walks. I'd walk 2.5 minutes away from the house and then walk home. That's all I could do. The next week I bumped it up to 7 and so forth. Some weeks I'd have to hold and stay where I was and some weeks I could go farther. For the longest time I was afraid to walk farther than 20 minutes for fear I'd have to call someone to pick me up and bring me home. But I learned that this was just a frightened voice in my head. I worked up to 1 hour, very hilly walks (I live in the mountains), and even hike up mountains for 6-8 miles. When that voice tells me I can't do it I laugh at it and say, "Back off. I've survived bwd!" You can do this.

 

MT

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Wow... This thread is really inspiring and perhaps exactly what I needed to hear right now.

 

I can't exercise, workout or even stretch for F sakes! I'm just not getting any better. I'm desperate.

 

Could simple walking (near nature when I can) be the answer? I just can't take this life anymore. There's too much to do, too much to enjoy, too much beauty and magic out there. I want to be a part of it.  :'(

 

Thank you Buddies. Much love from me.

 

Donnie, I've been off BB for a while and just saw this. I understand those feelings of weakness and like you can't do anything. But yes, I think walking, in/near nature when possible, could have a big effect on you. You asked how to start. I started with 5 minute walks. I'd walk 2.5 minutes away from the house and then walk home. That's all I could do. The next week I bumped it up to 7 and so forth. Some weeks I'd have to hold and stay where I was and some weeks I could go farther. For the longest time I was afraid to walk farther than 20 minutes for fear I'd have to call someone to pick me up and bring me home. But I learned that this was just a frightened voice in my head. I worked up to 1 hour, very hilly walks (I live in the mountains), and even hike up mountains for 6-8 miles. When that voice tells me I can't do it I laugh at it and say, "Back off. I've survived bwd!" You can do this.

 

MT

 

Thank you so much for replying! Since reading this thread almost two months ago I've been walking at least three times a week. Most times the walks bring on pain and symptoms (occasionally they don't) but I don't know what else to do, so I just take a day or two off and then go walking again.

 

I'm really hoping that my body will adjust soon and I'll start feeling better. Did your walks cause you pain when you first started?

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