This past week in Scottsdale, Catalyst hosted a Nature Therapy Hike, our first meetup for women entrepreneurs. If you’ve felt like being in business for yourself can be isolating, or like friends and family don’t understand your lifestyle, you aren’t alone. It’s offering these social gatherings as a way for women to connect without pressure around topics like self care and making the community a better place is important to my team and me.
Self Care for Women Entrepreneurs
Self care and spiritual practice were the topics of the day. High achievers especially need self care, and benefit from spiritual practices that help them to find clarity and feel grounded. We began the morning talking about how we can recharge and avoid burnout. As women, we tend to carry a lot of tension in our bodies and minds, and we shoulder a lot of responsibility when it comes to our families, friends, workplace, and concerns about the world. We can’t get wrapped up in feeling like we need to have control or solutions for everything and everyone. Instead, we can focus on caring for ourselves mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically so that we’re bringing the positive energy to the world that counters the negativity, and so that we can serve our purposes.
Cultivating Awe
Our private tour was lead by guides from the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, Toni, Katy, and Jakki. Toni introduced us to the concept of cultivating awe throughout the morning, and how intentionally seeking a sense of wonder is good for our hearts, minds, and bodies. As we walked along the trail, we were encouraged to point out what gave us a sense of awe. We saw towering saguaro cacti, boulder formations on the horizon, and palo verde trees that naturally grow in a fractal pattern, scientifically shown to reduce stress when viewed by the human eye. We learned about how we can cultivate a sense of awe in our day-to-day lives.
Nature Therapy
Visiting a natural space is has been proven to reduce stress. We smelled creosote, a desert shrub that released a soft, pleasant scent when it rains, and learned how pleasant smells can lower blood pressure. Quiet spaces, greenery, and natural sounds like bird songs also have a calming effect. We planted our feet in the dirt and knelt to touch the ground for a calming, “grounding” feeling, and engaged our sense of touch, smell, sight, and sound as we explored the Jane Rau trail.
Toni suggested a weekly walk, alone or with friends, to clear your mind and recharge in nature. I hope this post gives you some fresh ideas and that you’ll consider joining us at a future event (so far, we are planning to host them in Arizona and Washington in 2020). Sign up below for The Delta to be notified when we resume events.
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Want more tips? Check out my podcast episode: From Burnt Out to Baddie: Self-Care and Healing Our Relationships with Our Bodies – with Kathleen Metzelaar
Nature Therapy, Cultivating Awe, and Self Care for Women Entrepreneurs
