Tag: Nature

Favorite Calm Things: Between Two (Furry) Ears

(Title image: still photo captured from “Between2Ears” Twitch stream)

I like finding some calming things to focus on when my brain is in overdrive. In my “Favorite Calm Things” series I’ve been mainly posting about streams on YouTube and Twitch.

Leyla, the star of Between2Ears.
(Photo from Twitch page)

So here’s another one that I adore! It’s called “Between2Ears” and chronicles walks in nature from the perspective of a dog named Leyla from Germany. The scenery is lovely, both the environment and Leyla’s soft and furry head. It’s one of those puppy heads that you’d love to sit and scratch.

These are not live streams, but they do run almost non-stop on Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/between2ears) so there’s always something to watch…and it’s always daytime.

For those who aren’t interested in setting up a free Twitch account, there are also a number of videos of Leyla available on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@between2ears-virtualdogwal771/videos) featuring walks during different seasons of the year and in a variety of locations.

Leyla has a good camera set-up with an excellent gimbal that helps steady the image. There is a slight bounce to her step and while I don’t have any issues with it, check it out for yourself to see whether the movement is too much.

Watching the world between Leyla’s ears.
(Still photo captured from stream)

The stream and posted videos do a great job of recreating the experience of taking a curious puppy for a walk. Because the feed is recorded and slightly edited, you get the get good parts without mishaps or camera issues.

For me, as someone who adores dogs (and animals in general) but whose living situation currently prohibits me from having a pet of my own, this is such a sweet, calm way of experiencing the joy of a walk in nature with an inquisitive puppers. Until I’m in a place where I can again have a pet of my own, I can at least have this.

Hope you enjoy it too!

Favorite Calm Things: Chipmunks and Squirrels

(Title image: Photo by Raymond Eichelberger on Unsplash)

Sometimes I need to shift my attention from the worries of the day and look at little fuzzy critters. One of my favorite outlets for this has become the Twitch stream @Chipmunks_and_Squirrels, on YouTube as @Chipmunksandsquirrels.

As the name suggests, this is a video stream of small woodland animals set in a lovely little backyard sanctuary built on the edge of a Connecticut forest. The audio is recorded at the same time as the video so you get a true sense of being in the woods, watching the little critters eat all the snackies put out for them.

It’s also touted as the perfect stream to leave on for your cats or dogs to keep them occupied. Sadly, I don’t have a pet to test this with, but it certainly serves as a soothing balm for me during a hectic work day! I often leave the stream on in the background as I’m working. It’s the perfect mix of nature sounds to be calming while not too distracting. And it provides a nice break to look at something other than spreadsheets.

Video of the activity from a live stream — “Chipmunks and Squirrels” streams live everyday on YouTube and Twitch.

The most frequent visitors tend to be gray and red squirrels and the high-definition camera focuses quickly to give beautiful closeups of them. But I’ve also seen an array of birds, including colorful bluejays and cardinals, and in the evening, curious raccoons. That’s just within the last couple of months.

Some of the squirrels I’ve seen often enough that I’ve been able to recognize them, including ones I’ve dubbed “Notch” (who has a notch in one ear) and “Slice” (who is missing the top of an ear). But there are quite a few others who come by.

And this is all in the cold of winter. I’m looking forward to warmer weather, longer days and the variety of creatures that spring and summer will bring. Should be lovely!

The YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@Chipmunksandsquirrels) also offers a lot of video clips and shorts for those of us without a lot of time or attention span. Check it out and let me know what you think. 😀

Shinrin-Yoku – Forest Bathing in New England

I had the pleasure of returning to my hometown in the Northeast of the United States for a long-overdue visit. Flying into the airport, the difference between the landscape there and the sparser chaparral of my current home in Southern California was striking. The abundance of greenery in the form of old growth trees reminded me of what I missed so much about living in Connecticut – walking through forests, real forests, and reveling in being surrounded by the lushness of nature, awash with feelings of serenity and renewal.

Accept the invitation to slow down and appreciate the beauty around you.

Shinrin-yoku is a Japanese term that means “forest bathing”, a form of nature therapy or ecotherapy, the benefits of which have been studied extensively beginning in Japan and South Korea, but now being practiced throughout the world. The concept is simple: slowly walk through a forest and experience it with all your senses.

Walking slowly, breathing deeply, there’s so much to experience..

While the practice is uncomplicated, in our busy world it is easy to forget the importance of spending time in nature and truly being present as we do so, connecting with an ancestral part of us that we usually ignore. There is much to be gained by doing so. Taken from the site Shinrin-Yoku.org,

The scientifically-proven benefits of Shinrin-yoku include:

Just as impressive are the results that we are experiencing as we make this part of our regular practice:

A perfect place to sit and enjoy simply being.

I can personally attest to this. Simply being in the presence of the trees, walking down a forest path under a majestic green canopy, listening to the wind in the leaves and songs of birds, it is unlike anything that I have experienced in the urban hustle-and-bustle of the Southern California lifestyle. Even in the higher elevations, I do not find what I found during my trip home.

While I cannot easily return to that experience several thousands of miles away, I can make an effort to find the “green” in my everyday life, to pause, reflect on and appreciate the nature around me. And taking a deep breath, I am calm.