Katrina Tweedie
I don’t need a survey to tell me fresh air and exercise boost wellbeing
FEET swollen from a day climbing not one but two munros, I’d pulled my trolley suitcase a mile down a dirt track to reach the bus stop – which I missed – before I sat at the roadside to wait for an hour, with only the midges for company.
If I ever had a Bridget Jones moment, this was it – watching all the Gore-tex-clad walkers striding confidently past, ready to tackle the Cairgorms, as I tried to get back to Aviemore to catch the train home.
The benchmark of a good holiday used to be returning home heavier, poorer and either sunburned or peeling.
But nowadays, it’s all about wellness breaks, where hedonism has been replaced by headstands, yoga and meditation.
Forest-bathing – walking in the woods to you and me – is a Japanese form of therapy and the latest health and wellbeing craze to hit the UK, amid reports that a two-hour forest-bathing session can reduce blood pressure, lower cortisol levels and improve concentration and memory.
Hiking, meanwhile, is now trending above yoga. In a recent YouGov survey into the exercise habits of over 2000 people, more than half listed walking/hiking as their main form of exercise. With that in mind, I jumped at the chance to join a group coming up from London to try Munro Bagging in the Highlands for the first time. I don’t need a survey to tell me that fresh air and exercise boosts wellbeing – and here was my chance to finally undertake my pledge to tackle Scotland’s peaks.
Accommodation was functional rather than fancy in a dorm-style room with bunkbeds. As I lay was on the bottom bunk, I worried that my bad back would begin to twinge. But bright sunlight woke me up and we set off from the Cairngorm car park towards Ben Macdui, the second highest mountain in Britain. By the end of the day, I’d climbed two munros, walked 34,000 steps, refilled my water bottle several times from a mountain stream, dipped my feet into an icy-cold loch and walked through a cloud of mayflies. The group from London were blown away by the jaw dropping scenery and we all returned home exhausted, but healthier and happier. Of course, reports from the trip may refer to a Highland holistic health retreat, a chance to connect with nature and step away from everyday life – otherwise known as a walk in the hills.