A couple of weeks ago a regular, longtime client walked into the studio and said to me "Do you have to time to go to Holliday Park for our workout today?" At first I thought she was teasing, but after it became clear that she wasn't I was happy to oblige and was excited to get her on the trails. We met in the parking lot and I led her toward the trail that has the steepest hill in the park. As we trekked along she became so perky and repeatedly commented about the beautiful scenery in our gem of a city park. Don't get me wrong, this lady is not at all a negative person. However, when we were doing our challenging hike while taking in the sound of chirping birds and the flowing river, along with the spring budding trees, laughing kids not on a cell phone, and fellow greetings from other park goers, her demeanor was very content and giddy. It was super cool to witness and since that hike her and her husband have plans to repeat it on a regular basis.

Ironically, that very same day I came across an article on Facebook entitled "What Hiking Does to the Brain is Pretty Amazing". So OF COURSE I was very intrigued to read about this. To say that getting out into nature improves mood might seem like a "Mr. Obvious" statement. Something that may be obvious doesn't necessarily mean that we will do it. More so, I am always looking to learn the why specifically things happen, particularly in reaction to physical movement.

The article starts out to explain how much less we are outdoors than in the past. Only 6% of children play outside on their own volition on a typical week, yet they are spending around 8 hours per day watching TV, playing video games, on a computer or phone. This is a sad statistic and even sadder when you think that this behavior is very likely to continue in their adult lives, passed onto their children and so on.

A recent study found that those who took a 90 minute walk in a natural environment showed far lower levels of obsessive worry, depression and anxiety. In contrast the group that walked for the same amount of time in a city reported no difference. Brain scans of the hiking subjects showed decreased blood flow in the subgenual prefrontal cortex. Increased blood flow to this region is associated with sadness, worrying and depression. . . and hiking deactivates it.

Other studies have found that nature experience greatly improves creative potential, problem solving, threat detection and decreases symptoms of ADHD (no wonder I love trail running so much!). Not to mention it being a great calorie burn it also improves memory and self-esteem.

Will hiking remove all of your life's problems? Probably not, but it will likely improve the way you perceive or deal with your woes. Want to find trails located near you? The app called All Trails is a great tool that rates, describes and will even give you GPS directions to get you there.

My local favorite trails are at Eagle Creek Park (56th just west of Lafayette Road) and Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park (59th and Post Road). Both offer several miles of well-maintained trails and are easily accessible. If you have any questions fell free to email me.

I urge you to get out there and be one with the outdoors. I truly believe it is the way nature intended!