Blue-Tailed Lizards & Mental Health
This week the focus is on lessons from nature.
Hi there!
Before I switched on the light in my front office, my eye caught a glimpse of a critter scurrying across the shiny tile floor. I put my soft-body lunch cooler and keys on the front desk and squatted down to look under the nearby blue leather chairs.
I prayed not to find a mouse. Rodents and I do not mix well.
Instead, I saw a young skink, barely three inches long. Skinks, at least the variety I see most often (there are over 1500 varieties), are blue-tailed lizards that grow to be about eight inches long, though I rarely see them longer than five or six inches.
If you live in southeast Tennessee, skinks are part of life, and part of that life is chasing them out of your home and office after they come running in through the door.
It took fifteen minutes, but I managed to corral my unwelcome office guest out the door. You do not know what a success it is to succeed so quickly. Some skinks have lived with me nearly all summer because I never could catch them or chase them in the right direction.
Skinks are harmless, so there’s nothing to worry about, but as I sat down at my desk this morning, sweating from chasing a lizard, my desk scattered with a tax return I’m tired of looking at, I reflected on what the lizard could teach me.
Nature is amazing and full of valuable lessons. This week, we’ll be focusing on the lessons I learned from my blue-tailed friend. Let’s jump in.
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
- Albert Einstein
Get Some Sun
Lizards love the sun, so it’s easy to find them hanging out on the sidewalk or on the walls of your house. They do it to warm their cold blood, but the sun is just as important to you.
Here are five ways getting some sun can help you.
Improved Moods: Sunlight increases your serotonin which is essential for battling both depression and anxiety.
Better Sleep: Higher serotonin levels during the day usually induce higher melatonin levels at night. That means you sleep more and deeper than if you stayed inside all day.
Vitamin D: Direct sunlight also gives your body natural vitamin D. Vitamin D is useful for reducing inflammation and managing cell growth. Since inflammation is tied to both increased depression and anxiety, we need all the vitamin D we can get naturally.
Stronger bones and teeth: Sunlight’s natural vitamin D helps increase bone and tooth density. Healthy bones will help you feel better and more confident.
Lower blood pressure: When the sun kisses your skin, your body releases nitric oxide into your blood. This substance helps improve heart health and lowers blood pressure. Lower blood pressure will also make you feel less anxious.
Last week, I fought my third round with COVID. The days I spent at least 30 minutes in the sun, I coughed less and slept better. Who knows what a little sun will do to help you.
Your assignment for today is to get out in the sun like a skink. No, not necessarily hanging on the side of your house, but if that works for you, you do you. The key is to get 15-30 minutes in the bright light. Then tonight, explore how you feel.
Tomorrow (for paid subscribers), we’ll discuss the second lesson I learned from my blue-tailed friends.
Journal Prompt: Spend 15 minutes in the sun. How did your time outside make you feel? What can you do to make sure you have more time to be in the sun? If you didn’t go outside, why did you avoid it?
Until next time, keep fighting.
Scott Ninneman
Additional Reading
The book that started it all…
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Good encouragement! Thanks!
We can all use a little more sun, Scott. Great reminder.