If you are feeling stuck or a bit down or really, really hot, here is my advice:  Go somewhere.  Preferably to a place with water.  Preferably to a place with flowing water.

There is something about being by a stream.  It activates all the senses.  The sight of splashing, flowing water and fish and dragonflies and birds.  The sound of the stream as it tumbles over and around rocks and branches.  The smell of mud and moss and wetness and green growing things.  The feeling of the cool water upon your feet as you gingerly walk over the slippery pebbly bottom. And then there are those negative ions to lift your mood.  It’s a completely holistic experience.

It’s extra wonderful if you can find a semi-private stream with a little bridge across it.  Lie on the bridge and experience the water flowing beneath you.  You can lie on your back and feel the water beneath you as you gaze up into the sky.  Or you can lie on your stomach and look at the world of water flowing beneath you.  Either way, you may find that it gives you some relief from the responsibilities and stresses of being an adult.  There’s something about that flowing water that seems to metaphorically wash away cares.  It’s a very zen kind of thing to do.  It breeds a feeling of non-attachment – nothing is permanent, it all flows away.

If you’re feeling stuck energetically or financially, sit or lie on the bridge in such a way that you’re facing the water as it flows downstream.  Imagine money or opportunities or joy or whatever you want flowing to you!  It is so wonderful to feel things flowing to you.  And then, in keeping with that zen theme, don’t let yourself be attached to anything that flows to you.  Accept it, be grateful for it, and pass it along.

When I parted from my husband almost twenty years ago and found myself alone in a small apartment, I created this little ditty that I sang to myself periodically to keep my spirits up.  “I flow with the river and the river is my life.”  Somehow it made our sad decision to part a little bit more okay.  I wanted a life which flowed, and mine was flowing in a different direction now, and that was okay.

Right now, many of my friends are suffering through a horrible heat wave.  My suggestion is:  Get thee to some water!!!  Let it lift your spirits.  Let it cool you off. For those who are depressed, my suggestion is the same:  Get out into the world of wetness!  Splash and play and fall down!  Let yourself be a kid for a little while.  If you’re feeling stuck, go watch some water move.  Water loves to flow.  Water stagnates when it’s still for too long.  Sit in a stream, swim in a pool, stand in the gentle surf of the ocean and let it tug at you.

Nature is healing at its finest.  It’s free medicine for the soul.  Get yourself out there and enjoy!

Blessed be.