stress

La-La-Land
Loretta LaRoche
Stress Expert and Author

Remember when you were a kid and you got into “heavy staring”, and your mother would say, “Hey? Where are you? Come back! Are you in la-la land?”

As an adult, you’ve probably buried or dismissed this wonderful place that can help you find inner peace and harmony. Children daydream often and with great ease because they have the capacity to focus on the moment they’re living in.

If children see a kite, a balloon, a bird, or anything else that strikes their fancy, they’re able to zero in on it and track it with complete absorption. It’s as if the child has become one with the object.

This becomes harder and harder to do as our minds become more and more cluttered with adult demands. How often have you sat down for a few moments to chill out, and then heard that nagging little inner voice starting in on you: What are you doing, just sitting there? You don’t have time for this! Get up. You have lots to accomplish today! Snap out of it!

Children don’t have those voices in their heads yet. That’s why we have to keep hounding them to do things like clean their room, pick up their toys, and watch where they’re walking. They’re so wrapped up in focused on that it’s no wonder parents find themselves constantly saying things like, “I’m talking to you! Listen!” It’s as if we’re desperately trying to break the spell, even if just for a minute.

But we grownups can learn to be spellbound again-to connect to “la-la land.” It’s not about writing one more report or answering a few more e-mails-but rather about getting more in touch with the universe.

You see, when we’re in concert with something or someone we love, we’re in a state of “flow”, where time and space become nonexistent, our moments expand, and we’re literally one with the universe. Our minds become free-floating, unattached to our everyday concerns-and our bodies release the tensions that often make us look like dead parrots.

I find that my garden draws me into this other world. When I’m there, I transcend time and space and let go of my cares and concerns for a while. You can get to “la-la land,” too. Just take some time to mediate, pray, journal, walk in nature, spend time with a loved one, or any activity that takes you to that magical place where time stands still.