Trail Blazer Challenge
Deepen your relationship with nature through this a weekly immersion of Wild Time, and join others who practice the same process.
Now looking for Trail Blazers to explore the Spring Season (Mar 27 – Jun 20).
Each week, throughout 1 season, we’ll explore together the wilderness. This challenge will guide you from gearing up to getting out on 10 different adventures in the wild.
Most people don’t have a regular practice of interacting with nature, and there is mounting empirical evidence that shows the Human-Nature relationship has an impact on our health.
When you can get out in Nature for a regular session of Wild Time, then your mental, physical, emotional health can be impacted positively.
WHAT IS WILD TIME?
Wild Time is a powerful developmental process that engages mind, body and spirit in a natural outdoor space. We believe that walking in the outdoors, and consciously connecting with the natural landscape, awakens potential in a powerful way.
Each week, you’ll pick an adventure in nature where you’ll walk trails or footpaths, immersing yourself intentionally in nature to allow your nervous system to relax. This immersion allows a generous scope of time for deeper reflection, and a powerful context for transformation, emotional processing, and improved decision making.
Dear Potential Trail Blazer,
I am sitting down with my hot chocolate to write you from my heart about wild time.
This innocent ritual started as an almost daily practice back in 2009 when I was learning a new mountain town. This ritual has since transformed well-being in my life, connected me into myself, reduced my stress, and increased my physical health.
The practice of wild time is seemingly simple. Each week (or as often as you can manage) you walk a trail for at least 60 minutes. There are untold variables on how you can achieve this and I’ve played with them all through the years.
Wild Time and staying close to nature has allowed me to reduce stress, stay present and focused, through massive transitions in my life for the last 11 years. I’ve moved twice, juggled a full-time corporate job with motherhood, stepped into entrepreneurship, built 4 different businesses, managed our 11 acre farm, and launched into wild schooling my kids.
The practice that has kept me in sane in the transitions through the pandemic, and through these major life changes is Wild Time. It’s my secret sauce, and the basis of my deep relationship with Nature.
I brought forth this challenge at this time because our world is increasingly noisy. Intentional solitude is needed more than ever.
Intentional solitude and launching yourself into the bush can seem daunting, however. So, I’ve put together a group of fellow Trail Blazers, including myself, that will share their own adventures too. We want to see what plants caught your eye, the tree you rested against, and the waterfalls that took your breath away, and hope you’ll share with us.
Solvitur ambulando,
NATURE IS OUR MOST POWERFUL MEDICINE.
It has been shown that interactions with nature can deliver a range of psychological well-being, cognitive, physiological, social, tangible and spiritual benefits and that access to green space and natural areas is important for overall quality of life in human well-being.
Here are a few key benefits to your well-being that immersion in nature can provide to you.
REDUCES STRESS
Recent investigations revealed that being outdoor reduces stress by lowering the stress hormone cortisol. Besides that, it also makes us immune to allied problems like hypertension and tachycardia. (Lee J, 2011).
BUILDS FOCUS + PRODUCTIVITY
Nature walks and other outdoor activities build attention and focus (Hartig, 1991). There are pieces of evidence that indicate strong environmental connections to be related to better performance, heightened concentration, and reduced chances of developing Attention Deficit Disorder.
IMPROVES LOGIC + CREATIVITY
A study at the University of Kansas found that spending more time outdoors and less time with our electronic devices can increase our problem-solving skills and improve creative abilities. (Lynch, 2012)
BOOSTS GRATITUDE
Environmental psychologists have argued that there is a value component added to the human-nature relationship. By staying close to nature, we feel more grateful and appreciative of what it has to offer to us (Harold Proshansky).
REDUCES RISK OF ILLNESS
A day out in the sunshine can suffice us with vitamin D, a nutrient we don’t get from food as much we need it. The right level of Vitamin D in the body immunes us against diseases like osteoporosis, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s. Besides, it also ensures the smooth functioning of the immune system. (Naeem, 2010).
PRICING
I was going to charge $10, but naaah. IT’S FREE! Join our Marco Polo group.