A Soothing Approach to Calming the Nerves

Many law schools have been at it for a few weeks and, at our law school, some of our student are having their first midterms exams, right after Labor Day. What a shock!  

If you find one of your students (or yourself) already fatigued and stressed by the many tugs and pulls that constitute the first few weeks of law school, you are not alone.  I too can't seem to find a quite space for my mind, which seems to ramble and ruminate all day long.  

That's why I am personally excited to share this little article:   Elizabeth Berstein, "The Underrated Therapy for Anxiety and Stress: Water It gives our brain a break from the intense, focused attention that much of daily life requires." WSJ (8.23.22).      If I understand the research correctly, just a little bit of going often, sitting by even a trickle of a stream or perhaps a campus water fountain or pond, and listening and watching, can quiet our minds, calm our spirits, and help us appreciate a little bit of the awe of the experience of being present in something that seems to move so effortlessly.  That's a richness that money cannot buy.  

So feel free to put away the headphones and go out and experience nature's wonders, wherever they lie.  Right now, as I write, I see snow-glaciated mountains in the distant despite this hot close-to-ninety degree day.  They tower so high and yet seem to float so majestically on the horizon.  Well, it's time for me to stop writing and to start staring out the window, appreciating the beauty that abounds.  Oh, and I almost forgot.  I think it is A-okay to let your mind wander a bit, to let your students take a moment in the midst of class to look out the windows to see something that's always been there but never been seen, to be still and quiet and present.  That's a true gift.  (Scott Johns).

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