Hiking

Urban exercises are more convenient for most people. However, the mind, emotions, and spirit can be greatly enhanced by adventuring away from the stressful environment of civilization. Like walking and running, keeping good posture and good footing is extremely important. Let your lower chakras be rooted in the earth you are walking on and connect your higher chakras to the spirits and your higher self. Remember to wear comfortable shoes or no shoes at all and bring water if you are going far.

Hiking can help you become whole, thus healthy. Keith McCafferty even writes “it is probably the most natural and least stressful of aerobic exercises” in the book L.L. Bean Hiking And Backpacking Handbook (2000).Walking on the soil is less straining to the joints. Walking up and down mountains is unique and important for total health. “You’ll use certain muscles to go up and different muscles to go down,” writes Doug Werner, the author of Backpacker’s Start-up (1999).Beyond the physical benefits of hiking there are also mental, emotional, and spiritual benefits.

For most people who live in urban areas, the source of their stress, unhealthy habits, and troubles are rooted in their ties to the city. “Hiking is the act of shedding civilization one step at a time,” writes Keith McCafferty the author of the L.L. Bean Hiking And Backpacking Handbook (2000). Walking away from civilization can be the solution to relaxing and achieving better health. McCafferty claims that, “The mind relaxes with the rhythm of hiking. Therefore, hiking is extremely beneficial for the mind. As the clutter and complexity of the life behind us are shed like a chaff, we are able not only to think more logically, but to isolate matters of consequence from the trivial worries that so often monopolize out minds.” By relaxing our troubled minds, we can connect to the higher powers that inhabit the natural environment.

Your emotions will be more tranquil once your mind has this sense of relaxation. Furthermore, there is a sense of self-esteem that comes along with understanding the natural environment. Keith McCafferty writes, “Hiking can indeed result in a greater self-esteem, as we overcome our fear of the unknown, develop wilderness skills, and come to trust our own judgment at turns in the trail.” The trail then becomes not only a physical journey but also a spiritual one. McCafferty writes about this spiritual experience in his book as well, “with each turn of the path a new facet of our character is revealed to the sun, so that hiking becomes a safari of self-discovery, even of spiritual rebirth, as we free ourselves from the urban oppressions and experience personal growth and a new-found sense of worth in the glories of nature.”

Certainly, “hiking strengthens our ties to nature,” Keith McCafferty reminds us. When hiking in the mountains you must not only deal with yourself, but with the natural world around you, which is bubbling with spirits. Often spirits found on mountains are helpful. Others will try to trip you and lead you astray. However, if you are calm and hike respectfully, then your experiences should be positive. Tops of mountains, whether big or small, are extremely powerful centers for energies. Be respectful of all the living and non living aspects of the earth around you. Stay on trails so that your hiking boots do not trample the life beneath your feet. If the spirits favor you, then you may find more than just a barren mountain-top. You may find something much greater in spirit.

In Greek mythology the gods lived on a mountain, Mount Olympus. The ruler of the mountain was Zeus, the sky god. The tops of mountains are close to the gods, and the heavens. Mountain tops can help you gain perspective because you can see the greatest distance. Mountain climbing allows you to rise above everyday concerns or transcend worldly affairs or problems. It corresponds to the spiritual idea of ascension, which is like rising to higher planes or higher states of consciousness. Famous mystics, like Aleister Crowley, followed the example of Eastern sages who sought lonely mountaintops to gain enlightenment and mystical powers as well as to retreat from the material concerns that dominate the lowlands.