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Exchange Your Rush for Hush
by Cheryl Terrace | March 15th, 2013 | No Comments
topic: Green Living, Health & Wellness, Healthy Home, Personal Growth | tags: acreage, auditory person, bear, bed, bird calls, bird suet, bodies, cd sounds of nature, chaos, chronic noise, city dwellers, coyotes, debilitating noise, ears, environmentalism, estate, flashlight, front porch, garbage trucks, health, Heaven, home blessings, home environment, howls, human, husband, internet noise, investigate, jarring sounds, keep calm and carry, man-made sounds, meditation, minds, nature sound machine, nature sounds, New York City, noise and stress, owl, peaceful environment, quality of life, quiet time, sacred sounds, seasonal birds, sleep, slippers, soothing sights, soothing smells, soothing sounds, sound machine, sound of your breath, sounds of nature, soundscape, soundtrack, spirit, subway car, tone/volume of voice, turn off the tv, TV, wildlife, wind, Yoga
Recently, my husband Andy and I were jolted out of deep sleep at 5 am by a huge CRASH. We jumped out of bed to investigate (with me grabbing slippers and a flashlight). I assumed a bear had climbed onto the front porch table to get at the bird suet (not the first time).
As the only humans living on a two-thousand-acre estate, we are surrounded by wildlife and are accustomed to myriad nature sounds. Many nights we listen to the primal howls of coyotes, which I love. (Sometimes I even howl along with them!) We know our seasonal birds by their calls and occasionally hear an owl in the night whoo-whoo-whooing.
As an auditory person and lifelong environmentalist, this is heaven for me. It was just a short time ago I needed a sound machine (of nature!) to help me sleep in New York City, with all of its jarring, man-made sounds. (I swear the garbage trucks have amplifier speakers.)
It’s no wonder the number-one complaint of city dwellers is noise. Chronic, debilitating noise is more than just an annoyance — it plays a huge factor in our quality of life. Studies confirm that noise and stress are closely related to our health, and I am always surprised that more people don’t plug their ears (like I do) when a subway car rambles by.
What we hear transforms our brains and our lives. That’s why it’s critical to take control over your ‘personal soundscape.’ Customize your home environment as you would a beautiful soundtrack to create a haven of soothing sounds (and sights and smells). Here are a few tips to do that:
