What do you do to de-stress?

When I want a break from writing I like to go for a walk. I especially love “luxuriating” in the smells and sounds of woods.  Some people call this “forest bathing” or “shinrin-yoku.” I talk about “shinrin-yoku” and  the importance of  getting away from  it all – especially our keyboards – in this week’s Crime Readers’ Association blog: (Move Away From The Keyboard!). Please do go have a look 🙂

However, there is one thing I  forgot to mention in my CRA post, so I’ll do so now. Remember in May, I told you that my daughter got Mossy the puppy, yes? Well since then three things of note have happened.

1: The number one son-in-law-to-be proposed to Josée, the number one daughter 🙂

2: The happy couple, plus Mossy, who is now the size of a small wolf, have moved  in with us while they build their own home (I have written about this wonderful happening here in the lovely Leither Magazine : 2 People, a Puppy and a Parcel of Land).

3: Daughter Josée has started a dog walking venture called Josée’s Happy Hounds – she has always loved those darn dogs!

Josée’s main thing is to take small groups of city dogs on “wild walkies” ie: walks in woods, up and down hills, along streams and beaches. A kind of shinrin-yoku for dogs. And I sometimes go with her. When I do, we are – as you can imagine – accompanied by two or three or four dogs. While we’re ambling, or hiking as Josée doesn’t tend to do ambling, I’m replenishing my much deleted attention; getting the benefit of de-stressing by being with nature; and stimulating my sleeping creative subconscious (for more details on what I mean by all this stuff see the CRA post!), but I am also enjoying the company of my lovely  daughter and her wonderful dogs! So, what I forgot to say on my CRA blog post is that while shinrin-yoku  is good, it is even better when shared with others 🙂

So, if you are a writer, what do you do to unwind from the keyboard? If you are a reader, what do you do to de-stress?

Do you agree that getting away from the civilived world for a few hours is good for  us?

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts so do please take a peek at the CRA blog and leave a comment here and/or there. And if Like that Facebook button and/or  share on Twitter etc,  you will receive my undying appreciation 🙂