Reducing Stress With "Tree Huggin' Hippy S#*!"

So the name Tree Huggin' Hippy S#*! came about when I was in my mid twenties. I had been dabbling in the spiritual & practicing meditation regularly for a few years at this point. None of my friends were really interested in it so it was something I didn’t share with many of them.

One hot summer weekend, we spent a couple of beautiful days on a boat moored at the back of Garden Island. It was our usual crew of friends (the family we choose). At dawn, after a late night, I got up, thinking I was the only person awake and went out to the bow of the boat. I sat crosslegged and took in the view as the sun was rising over the island. There were several other boats around and the water was like a millpond: beautiful, calm, clear, blue. It was so quiet and serene. I took some deep breaths, closed my eyes and began my meditation. I was enjoying the peace and stillness. I was very centred, aware of my surroundings, enjoying the present moment. I remember hearing a noise, a little putt, putt, putt, noise. I observed it and let it go, the noise got louder but was still quiet. I wasn’t really aware it was coming closer to me. Then out of the stillness I heard a voice say “you doin that tree huggin hippy s#*!?” I was jolted back to reality by a friend in the tender boat grinning up at me. I laughed so hard, and from that moment on I embraced the fact that my meditation practice was always referred to as tree hugging hippy s#*! by my friends.

Today I am thinking back to those days and how free and easy my life was. But in truth I am no less happy today than I was then. Even in these uncertain times I am able to maintain a positive feeling about the world and my life. I am by no means unaware and naive to what is happening across the globe. I have chosen to take it all very seriously and spent the last two weeks setting up my home for my family to self-isolate. Don’t get me wrong I have had a few moments of stress about my family and my finances, but I have been able to easily let go of those attachments, come back to the present moment and choose to focus on the positive things going on around me. Meditation is my anchor in times like this. No matter what is going on in my life, my meditation practice and morning routine brings me back to centre, helps increase my happiness, reduce stress in my body and improve my immune system.

Three things you can do every morning to help reduce stress

& strengthen your immune system:

1. Smile

When you smile, even if you don’t feel like smiling, there is a chemical reaction in your brain which releases hormones including serotonin and dopamine. Both of these brain chemicals are associated with happiness and the reduction of stress. So if you smile first thing in the morning, you trick your brain into thinking you are already happy. Science also shows us that stress has a major impact on lowering our immune system, while happiness can boost our immunity. Smiling first thing in the morning has become such a habit that I usually do it before I even open my eyes now. As soon as I am aware that there is light creeping in, I smile. I have on the odd occasion smiled before opening my eyes, only to realise its 2am on a full moon and I'm now ready to start my day!

2. Exercise & Fresh Air

I’m not a fan of winter, so in the colder months you will find me hibernating. I’d rather be tucked up in bed or sitting by the fire with a good book in the morning. I'm known as a ‘fair weather friend’. But between September & May I walk along the beach (almost) every morning. Exercise is known to release endorphins which trigger a feel-good effect and help combat anxiety, depression and stress. I have been walking in the morning since I was in my early 20’s, and if I had to choose between walking on the beach and showering each morning, I would probably forgo the latter for the sake of my mental health.

3. Meditation

Even if you only spend 10-15 minutes centring and connecting to yourself first thing in the morning, this can have a huge impact on the rest of your day. I love it when my students, especially teenagers, acknowledge the flow-on effect regular meditation has on the rest of their lives. The feeling I get when they share this observation and I see the look in their eyes— the look that says “I feel like I have a secret that no-one else quite gets”— is worth more than all the money in the world and is why I am so passionate about my work teaching Tree Huggin Hippy S#*!'