Rest, Recharge & Reset

We're officially in the lazy, laid-back season-but in case your scurrying brain didn't understand the assignment, we've got a few ideas for mini mental breaks (sort of like vacations you don't have to plan!). Get ready to tune out the chaos and delight in the small joys of summer-for an afternoon, an hour, or even just a minute.

- Amy Maclin

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Bird-watching is trending! Discover the newly cool way to get back to nature.

BIRDING WAS ONCE pigeonholed as a kind of geeky pastime, enjoyed by the safari-vested few who know the difference between a downy woodpecker and a hairy one. Lately, though, it's become a hot hobby, says Christian Cooper, author of Better Living Through Birding and host of the National Geographic TV series Extraordinary Birder. "People who were stuck inside during the pandemic started looking out their windows, putting up feeders-and it generated a crop of birders," he explains.

As those new enthusiasts learned, hanging with our feathered friends can be therapeutic. In a recent study from King's College London, people reported that seeing or hearing birds gave them a mental health boost that lasted up to eight hours. Maybe that's because we often associate birds with happiness, hope, and Disney princessesand because birding attunes us to our surroundings while reminding us of the wider world. "Every spring, you can go to Central Park and spot black-poll warblers who have come all the way from South America and will travel to Alaska and Canada," Cooper says. "It gives you a whole new sense of the planet." While birding is as easy as stepping outside, a few things will give your experience wings.

• A FIELD GUIDE Pick up The Sibley Guide to Birds or National Geographic's Field Guide to the Birds of North America, recommends Jenna Curtis, a project leader at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's eBird program, an online resource for birders. Or go with an app like Cornell's (free!) Merlin Bird ID, which lets you identify your finds by uploading photos or recording their chirps.