Try a Soundwalk for connection and care
Watch your step as you listen on your Soundwalk!
Spring has sprung in Milwaukee, so the sidewalks and lakefronts are filling with people biking, running and walking. Generally, if I am walking more than 6 blocks I like to put on my headphones to catch up on my latest audiobook (about to start Nocturna, by Maya Motayne and Menopausing: The Positive Roadmap to your Second Spring), podcast (Material Girls) or music of the day (Ibibio Sound Machine and lots of REM lately). Today, though, let me tell you about something that brings me a particular kind of calm joy - a Soundwalk.
A Soundwalk is a walk where you focus on listening to the noises in your surroundings. It’s simple in that as you walk at a leisurely pace, you settle into hearing the sounds that… the world makes as it goes about its day! I am being a bit whimsical with my language here because the experience feels poetic to me, no matter where the soundwalk takes place. Or whether I hear crunching gravel, a clap of thunder or the hushings of nature.
It seems that any time we place focus on just one of our senses, the way we perceive the world changes. In fact, a very common self care technique for anxiety reduction proposes this exactly- that settling into our senses and the environment around us can bring us into a calmer state i.e. changes our perception or experience of anxiety.
Of course, a Soundwalk is always a good idea no matter your mood. I recently had about 20 minutes during the work day free, and I’d just heard something incredibly joyful. I wanted to spend a little time with this joy, as long as it was with me. So rather than doing an office task, I went outside my building and walked toward the Summerfest grounds and listened to the lunchtime crowd, some gulls, a jackhammer (I think), the whoosh of my windbreaker, the ticking of the walk/don’t walk sign. It all felt alive, and so did I.
JOIN ME in hanging out with with multimedia artist Sara Zalek as they lead a Soundwalk here in Milwaukee at Humboldt Park on Sunday, May 19 from 3-5pm. All are welcome, there is no charge.
PS Soundwalks can be used as a part of improving our relationship to our body and health. As your friendly neighborhood acupuncturist, I would recommend doing it a time a thought about your health or your body makes you feel uncomfortable or worried. You just have to decide to take a minute, turn on your ears, and engage!
Here’s how: take a few moments to center yourself, move your body if you can into a different room, building or block on the street, and let go of any job you have on your mind -except for listening.
If you are not able to move, simply check in with your breath and sounds right where you are.
As the acoustic world around you begins to come into your consciousness, bask in it for a moment. Reflect on how your body and your mind respond to this kind of engaged awareness as you come in and out of listening.
Then, when it is time to move back into your regularly scheduled day, don’t forget about the feelings you had, basking in sound and silence. Your body was alive in a different way in those moments, which only happened because you listened to your own wily desire to engage with the world through listening. This is self care, through connection, in my mind. And it is also, healthcare through connection with our world.
Need help figuring out ways Soundwalks or other strategies could work for your health? Or would you like to work on your healthcare or stress management with me at Hundred Grasses Acupuncture? You know I would be honored to be a part of your healthcare journey.
RESOURCES FOR MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT Because May is Mental Health Awareness Month #MHAM2024
Even on such bright spring days, if it’s a tough or stressful time, a Soundwalk could be one of the tools to connect us to a gentler state of mind and body.
HOWEVER - Having a real tough time? After all, it’s spring and many folks will be struggling with their mental health!
Connect with this mental health crisis help line for support via text at 741741
Need to know how to have a conversation about depression or suicide? Try these conversation resources at Seize the Awkward
OR call/text the 988 hotline for mental health crisis and suicide prevention (you can always do a walk and talk if you are feeling antsy!)
