there's a certain level of escapism that is associated with hiking adventuring and through
hiking in particular even something as simple and natural as hiking seems to have its dark side for
me it's the impermanence of it all the fact that the good times will eventually come to an end
the result of which is the post hike blues or in some cases post hike depression to some of us this
might sound a bit dramatic but for some of us it's no joke this video shares some practical advice
for overcoming tough times these are some things which have helped me lead a happier healthier life
so i'm sharing some ideas to help you adjust back to a normal life after a big adventure
if you have something to add share it below the first piece of advice i wanted to offer you
is just to keep walking walking is more than just a way to transport us across
mountains it's a fundamental movement pattern for us humans and it's something that is inherently
linked to our mental and physical health walking is a great way to keep your body occupied while
allowing your thoughts to flow freely so after a long period of walking for many hours a day
or weeks or months there's little wonder that the mind and body suffers from a lack of that most
precious and basic of all movements and whilst walking around your neighborhood might not be as
exciting as walking across a country or over a mountain range i challenge you to take regular
short walks and treat them as micro adventures admittedly you might have to look a little harder
to find the beauty in what's around your hometown or your city but you'll be surprised what you find
close to home when you look a little closer even if you've lived in the same town your entire life
i guarantee you there's a little spot you haven't fully discovered yet so keep walking
sharpen your sense of adventure on the mundane like you would a blunt knife on a rock stand tall
this is something you instinctively want to do when you reach the top of a mountain
so you stand saw with your arms outstretched taking in the view while feeling good about what
you've just accomplished it's no coincidence that yogi's referred to the standing tall posture as
mountain pose standing upright with good posture is a powerful position for both the body and for
the mind this position has been demonstrated in clinical studies to increase testosterone
levels up to 20 percent while decreasing stress hormones or even more and it shows us just how
much our body and our mind are intertwined but you don't need to be on the top of a mountain to feel
this good try standing upright for two minutes in the morning with your chin slightly tucked
shoulders back and down and your glutes just slightly engaged do this outside in the fresh
air and the sunlight or the rain or even the snow breathe deeply and if you can close your eyes
find your balance there to some of you this might seem a little weird so if that's you i encourage
you to try this out see it for yourself for those that already have a practice like this stay weird
keep it up look on the bright side in retrospect it's easy to forget that our adventures outside
aren't always sunshine and happiness when you inevitably return to home life and work
and life seems a little dull remember that you have access to some beautiful things
like a warm shower a cozy bed as well as all the friends and family you were missing along the way
this is a great time to appreciate those things i like to write down one thing every day that
i'm grateful for eat to thrive one thing i really miss when i'm out in the mountains
is fresh nutrient dense food and an actual functioning kitchen to prepare it in spending
some time planning and preparing a dish that you could never dream of making in the mountains can
be a great way to either distract your mind or to bring focus into the present moment
and whilst highly processed foods are almost an inevitable part of hiking and adventuring
they're not something that will help you at home foods which are high in saturated fats and sugars
might make you feel good for a moment or two but the inevitable result is a crash in energy and the
brain chemistry that leads you to feeling flat and drained it has to be said that eating quality food
will make you feel a lot better in both the short term and the long term as the old saying goes
you are what you eat sleep well spending all day hiking and exhausting yourself in the mountains is
a great way to set yourself up for a good night's sleep and maybe that deep rejuvenative sleep
is something that you might be missing in your day-to-day life it's certainly responsible for
balancing out your brain chemistry that keeps us mentally and physically well and whilst there's a
number of apps and tools to help you analyze your sleep unfortunately they all involve your phone
one of the simplest things you can do for a good night's sleep is just putting away your phone or
your computer for an hour or so before you want to go to sleep creating and reflecting many of you
came across my channel through the little video series that i created about my own through hike
and it was ultimately those comments that prompted me to make this video i think for me having that
creative process of making that series was in a lot of ways very therapeutic and it allowed
me the opportunity to express and share some of what happened to my own little journey for you you
might not have the inclination or the time to make a video like this but what i think is important is
just sharing the stories one of the elements of a great story is that the main character changes and
evolves in some way and whether you know it or not the adventures that you have they have shaped and
changed you so i'd encourage you to reflect on how your adventure affected or changed you the main
character and to build a story around that one that shares something real that you experienced
i think one thing that frustrates a lot of people after a life-changing trip like this is their
inability to relate to those back in normal life you might feel that people don't understand the
beauty and the power of your experiences up there so thinking and reflecting on what you've done
and literally developing an engaging and powerful story can be a really therapeutic practice
it could be a video like me it could be a series of photos a drawing a painting a blog post
or just a quiet story told to a friend ultimately our minds are a collection of stories that we tell
ourselves and that we tell others so make it a good one diversify yourself i think one of the
more dangerous things about identifying as a hiker or a climber is that in times like these when
it's difficult or even illegal to go and do these things it's that we are really at risk of feeling
that deep emptiness of not being able to do the thing that we tell ourselves we are around five
years ago i found out the hard way that tying myself to this identity of being a mountaineer
or a hiker or a rock climber left me feeling pretty empty when i wasn't able to actually go
and do those things there are some people close to me who are suffering a lot right now because
so much of their sense of self is tied to being a traveler or an explorer or a rock climber
and without the ability to go and do that in this moment they're feeling a deep sense of
emptiness so if you're in that situation what i offer you is to diversify your inner investments
branch out a little in terms of what you do and who you are so that when you can't travel or
hike or climb you have something else to identify with and therefore something to drive you forward
moving your body many of the things that i've shared so far things that involve both the
body and the mind and for me the times when i feel like my mind and body are connected most
is through movement if you were to ask anyone who is highly invested in the fitness industry for a
solution to depression or anxiety they would no doubt tell you that you need to be working
out or exercising in some way and whilst i think that is generally good advice my issue with that
is what most people consider to be fitness is done solely in the body and it's only from time to time
that the mind is involved when we need to break through some pain barrier or to push ourselves
to some point of exhaustion as if we need to beat the body down into submission in some way
if your only source of movement that you get accumulates to a few hours of destroying yourself
in the gym each week and you're missing out on something truly beautiful which is
simply experiencing your body while you move and this mind body experience can come in many
different forms outside of traditional fitness martial arts yoga dance breath work or just slow
deliberate movement these are some things that encourage proprioception it's the relationship
between the mind and the body so not only will you be building strength by moving slowly and
deliberately but you'll also have a chance to develop that mind-body connection this is much
more likely to bring that balanced brain chemistry that is often promised by the fitness industry
but very rarely delivered something tells me that we'd all be experiencing much happier
more balanced lifestyles and ultimately living in a better world if that was in fact the case
if you are experiencing thoughts and feelings that you feel like are outside of your control
and you've tried talking to your friends and family about them and you haven't got the
result that you're after then i would definitely recommend seeking out the help of a mental health
professional i can say from personal experience that it has been and can be very helpful
and sometimes we just need an expert to be able to hear us out and allow us to kind
of free flow our thoughts and our feelings and tell those stories that are so important to us
in the intro of the video i spoke about providing some ideas to help you adjust to normal life
but if you've been on an adventure and you've experienced
some kind of deep change then it's possible that what you're experiencing is just some
resistance to returning to normal so rather than going back to normal and changing yourself
maybe what you need to do is stay the same keep those changes but then create a new normal
that's something worth thinking about maybe you don't need to change anything maybe you're great
and find the way you are i'll leave you with that thanks for watching i'll see you in the
summit
you