Needing Nature

My job is awesome because it offers basically FREE onsite fitness classes to all the employees. “Basically FREE” means that each class costs one dollar.  And that dollar doesn’t actually go toward paying the instructors.  It goes into a glass box filled with other dollars. And those dollars are raffled off at the end of the month to the employee who essentially attended the most fitness classes.  The location of the classes and the idea that someone might PAY ME to get in shape pretty much eliminated most of my excuses for refusing to exercise--money, distance to the class, time. So now, I’m back to doing yoga! Yay. And just because these classes are free and at work does not mean that my yoga teacher isn’t legit.  We’re working on headstands, OK?!

One of the things I learned about myself during the meditation part of class is that when the teacher tells us to “imagine our paradise” or whatever, I always see myself walking through nature with Ben. Our hikes and trips to National Parks and overseas parks are some of my favorite memories.

On a hike through Glacier National Park

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.

--John Muir

I love hiking so much and being surrounded by trees and fresh air.  I realized that I should actually make an effort to do this more often. Not only do Ben and I have the BEST talks on these hikes, but I come up with new ideas, I make lists, I can--sometimes--experience God. I sometimes think about my kidney, or money, or whatever is stressing me out.  I write blog posts in my head.  I plan parties. I plan meals.  And sometimes I just walk and marvel at how the wild continues to just be wild and exist without me doing, saying or thinking anything. Sometimes I feel like my body and all its weaknesses are healed for a moment while I’m hiking.  

So this year I want to hike some kind of trail more often. The plan is to write about all of my treks right here on this blog, every month….hopefully.  And yes, there will be more John Muir quotes because he's all kinds of amazing and inspiring.



I was sick for about three weeks from Dec. 27 until the middle of January.  So my first "hike" of the year ended up being more of a five mile walk along the Virginia Capital Trail.  It was aight.