GO FOR A HIKE!!! The "fight or flight" stress response is often caused by perceived threats of danger that leave you ready to jump out of your own skin. As you are boiling in your own adrenaline and cortisol you are most likely sitting on the couch or laying in bed ruminating over uncontrollable situations. Do what nature has designed as a natural stress reliever...EXERCISE! You don't need to run a marathon, simply get off your bottom and go for a walk, do some yoga, or why not combine a little exercise in nature and go for a hike!
To be honest, I HATE exercising with a passion but I know that I need to do it to manage my anxiety and stress levels. In order to make the task a bit more manageable I decided to make 2010 a year of hiking. I started off the year with numerous hikes to Iron Mountain, Mt. Woodson, Cowles Mountain and Sunset Trail in order to train for the strenuous hike 22 miles round trip to the top of Mt. Whitney. Mt. Whitney is the highest summit in the contiguous United States with an elevation of 14,505 ft. Located at the boundary between California's Inyo and Tulare counties, Mt. Whitney is by far one of the most physically challenging tasks I have ever completed. I can't recommend this hike enough! The pure beauty mixed with strenuous and challenging weather and terrain makes for a rewarding journey. Start training now and if you are interested make sure you get your application in between 2/1/11 and 3/15/11 for the lottery for a hiking permit. They only allow 60 hiking permits per day. Feel free to ask me any questions about training if you are interested! Here is the website to apply for the permits....
http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5125183.pdf
Here she is in all her glory....Mt. Whitney
We started at 3:00 am in the rain so we needed our headlights and poncho's :)
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Sunrise a few hours into our hike!
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Hiking through the snow (later there was hail as big as marbles and snow covering the switchbacks, which meant we had to make our own trail)
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| Photo via traveltalkteach |
All 7 of us made it!!! 11 miles up...now we have another 11 miles down :(
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We signed our names in the book at the top! 14,505 ft left a few of us a little drunk/silly from the altitude which is why someone wrote Nicole Clark (who is that, ha)
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I ran into one of my Iron Mt. hiking buddies...what a small world!
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| Photo via traveltalkteach |
Hope this post inspires you to get off the couch and start training!
What about getting a dog and taking him/her on walks!? I always feel better after getting outside and walking my doggie (who is way to far away right now...) Sad face.
ReplyDeleteMy dad, in his doctor summary, advised people to : a) not smoke and drink, and b) to get animals and talk to them! :)
YES!!! Pet therapy is on the top of my list for posts! We actually have patients that have trained pet therapy dogs that they take with them everywhere to help them manage their anxiety. Love it! You dad is a brilliant man :)
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