Mindful hiking
Take in the sights, engage all your senses actively, and let your mind roam too, writes Juliette Sivertsen
There’s something special about leaving the urban lifestyle in exchange for a few hours — or days — in the bush. Hiking is a form of exercise, and being out in nature has been welldocumented as providing a reprieve and a release, especially for those of us living in big cities or spending most of our time indoors.
But if you’re anything like me, hiking can make the brain go a little haywire.
I’ll switch from being in awe of my surroundings to stressing about all the things I need to do back home, to huffing and puffing and anxiously awaiting the next pit stop. If I’m with mates, I’ll spend half the time chinwagging and sharing a few yarns along the way.
That’s all fun and great to connect — but what if there was a more powerful way to go tramping? A way that had longer-lasting mental health benefits that don’t just disappear when you return home?
Kylie Rae runs Nature and Nosh gourmet hiking tours but is a passionate advocate for taking people on mindful hikes.
She says mindful hiking is similar to the ancient Japanese ritual of forest bathing, shinrin-yoku, with the added benefit of light exercise.
“It’s more than just taking in a bit of the sights as you go along, but also using all your senses actively and letting your mind roam, and not thinking so much about what your next topic of conversation is going to be.
“You don’t have to be a practising meditation specialist to go on a mindful hike. I usually say focus on your breath, focus on your footsteps and how your feet touch the ground each stride, engage all your senses at the same time.”
Benefits of mindful hiking can include improved concentration, improved memory, and a boost to your creativity, as well as helping gain perspective on life’s challenges.
“Your prefrontal cortex is given a chance to breathe and reset, because you’re decluttering. You’re away from all the stimuli of an urban setting — your phones, your laptops — so people say they feel much more relaxed, their stress levels remarkably reduced. And they feel happier, and really grateful in the moment to be there and have the opportunity to do something like that.”
Rae has been hiking with her husband, Steve, for years and says they’ve been reaping the benefits of mindful hiking. She noticed when they hiked together, they were able to bounce business ideas off one other better than if they were talking while sitting down at a table.
“It might not solve everything but it gives a sense of perspective.”
The couple now run hikes and “bush boardroom” meetings for corporates, so other workers can reap the same benefits, productivity and creativity they have in their own lives and in business.
“There’s nothing more magical than being out here in any patch of native bush in New Zealand, in the early morning. You’ve got dappled light coming through the trees, the birds singing, and you just feel this great sense of being just a small piece in a big world; you feel very humbled, a sense of natural gratefulness overwhelms you in a good way.”