City Life can be tormenting in so many ways. It could be the loud music from your the next-door neighbor or the general din of the busy streets. It could be the motorists that cut you in traffic or people who shove you in the subway station at rush hour.

The blurry pace of urban life and work-related anxiety can strain relationships, affecting your marriage, family life, circle of friends. Stress seems magnified in your jungle of glass, steel and concrete, and there’s hardly any time for letting your soul breathe.

We want to live our lives differently, reside in the suburbs perhaps, with white picket fences, oak trees and all, but we seem too engaged in the trappings of city life and, there are financial realities to consider. But as Pandora’s opened box introduced the worse things in life, what remained inside it is the ‘unique and undying hope.’

We all hope for serenity but it’s not something we get over the counter or at a hotel lobby or on the rooftop of a skyscraper. Yoga and other meditation techniques can only do so much, and not a lot of people want to find serenity with eyes closed and limbs stretched, mumbling a mantra.

Nature remains the best source of serenity. The sight, smell and sound of the natural environment can revitalize both body and soul and make you see things clearly. That was perhaps why Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane or why Thoreau sought wisdom in Walden Pond.

You can plan a trip outdoors. It doesn’t have to be far. The calming sight of Tahiti’s turquoise water and white-sand beaches won’t be as serene as you want it to be if you find yourself hobnobbing with other tourists. You can go to the nearest place in your state or province that has a magnificent natural view.

Nature offers a lot of breathtaking sights: a waterfall deep in the forest, a quiet creek, a misty mountain, rock formations in the desert, waves on a rocky shore, a veil of fine rain falling on grassland, autumn leaves in a lonely grove, a snowcapped peak, a frozen lake, an eagle flying in a clear sky.

It can even be nearer. All cities have parks – pockets of nature in an unnatural jungle – and some of them are not filled with too many people. They can be worth discovering. A bench in a quiet spot deep in the park can be a good place to hear the birds or see some squirrels or just feel the sunlight and the breeze on your face. Your one minute matters if you make it a daily habit.