As May – Mental Health Awareness Month – comes to an end, we would like to reflect on the importance of mental health for our overall well-being.
At the Sanctuary, we focus on the balance between body, mind, and spirit. These are, after all, so interlinked and heavily dependent on each other that treating one without treating the others is of no use.
Quoting His Eminence Gyalwa Dokhampa, author of the Restful Mind, “The restless mind is frightened of silence, easily bored, and busy, busy, busy. The restful mind is creative and alert, relaxed and confident”. Much along this train of thought, we strive to create an atmosphere of peace, enabling your mind to rest and recuperate from the endless rush of daily life, with its whirlwinds and strife, and thus, by reaching its full potential, allowing both the spirit and body to heal.
As the season changes,many people feel their mental health is impacted by it. When the days are shorter, serotonin (the “feel-good” neurotransmitter) levels decrease, affecting happiness and emotional balance. In the same way, when summer arrives, painting the valleys of Bhutan in different shades of green, the sun linging longer, the mind feels calmer.
Less people visit Bhutan during summer further contributing to a quieter environment. Although tourist crowds are never really an issue, thanks to the government’s unique tourism policy of ‘high value, low impact’, there are still busier times in the year, which can be easily avoided by visiting during the Bhutanese summer months (June, July and August) During this time of the year, there is some rain , mostly in the late afternoons or evenings, refreshing the trees and vegetation so typical of the surrounding landscapes. This leaves most of the day warm, fresh, and alive with colour. There can be some gentle mist settling between the mountains, and the pace of life seems to slow down even further into the already usual Bhutanese stillness.
Summer in Bhutan is a beautiful time to visit the Sanctuary , and simultaneously a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with ourselves, away from the noise, pressure, and overstimulation of our daily lives. You can meditate, take mindful walks in nature, talk to the local monks, or just sit in silence overlooking the valley, and you will feel how it encourages rest and clarity.
An important thing to note is that achieving mental well-being overnight, or through a single practice alone, is not feasible. This is something that needs to be nurtured through allowing ourselves the time to slow down.
And thus, as Mental Health Awareness Month comes to a close, we invite you to remember the importance of caring not only for the body, but equally for the mind and spirit. And perhaps, if you feel called to do so, to discover Bhutan during its quieter season, when the valleys are green, the air is warm, and the mind can finally take a deep breath.