Walking is natural, and is a basic pattern recognized on your smart phones. What are your amount of steps in a day? What do steps and internal peace have to do with each other?
Walking after a meal helps your gut health. It was Hippocrates who proclaimed that all disease begins in your gut. What better way to help your gut health than by indulging in a constitutional after mealtime.
Not only that, but walking in nature will appease mental wellness, heart health and overall well being.
Fear in a life and death situation such as an avalanche, triggers an instantaneous survival mechanism- and the body’s metabolism engages the sympathetic nervous system in preparation for a fight-or-flight response. However, when the fear is from an unknown, uncertain fear such as the risks presented by COVID-19, well, then still the fight-or-flight instinct kicks in and produces an anxious state. But there is nothing to fight, there is no attack from a wild bear. There is no avalanche to run away from.
Because of the onslaught of COVID-19 protocols, lifestyle changes and information changing minute to minute you are facing uncertainty, and your body is tense. How can you bring on relaxed breathing and heart rate? By acknowledging your body’s response to the novel Coronavirus, and allowing the body to take flight.
Walking is a very easy way to take flight from worry, anxiety, and fear. Take a break and look after both your physical and mental health with a walk in nature. Your body has released adrenaline, and changed the metabolism for the ‘fight or flight’ response. Now allow the fight or flight response to expend itself in a healthy direction.
A walk in the woods, forest bathing or Shinrin-Yoku has amazing health benefits. Enjoy, and immerse yourself in the experience of being in nature.
Breathing relaxes. The heart rate calms down. The body readjusts and one by one the parasympathetic nervous systems return the body back into balance. It is a good feeling.
Further, the body functions are influenced by fresh air, by being out in the sun, and by the earth’s magnetic field. The fresh forest air is what we breathe when out in nature at the afforestation areas.
“Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air…but only for one second without hope.” ― Hal Lindsey
Pick up your water bottle, come out to the afforestation areas, and take flight by indulging in active transportation. Breathe in. Breathe out. Indulge in the oxygen rich forest air. Please do maintain social distancing protocols, and at the same time heal your physical and mental body. Recharge your immune system. Drink water. Breathe in. Breathe out. Give your sympathetic nervous system a break today. Sleep better. Take care of yourself, and feel the benefits of relaxing and activating the parasympathetic nervous system.
What can you smile at today, perhaps it is the Black-capped chickadee tweeting its territory call. Breathe in. Breathe out. Perhaps it is the robin looking for its lunch, walking on the ground in front of your feet as it searches and feels for the worms below the earth. It is a sign that spring is here, and the seasons change in a timely and ordered fashion. Is the buffalo bean blooming yet? This bright yellow flower signalled the time when the great herds of bison would begin their migration to their summer grasslands.
Richard St. Barbe Baker himself reminds us to live according to the prayer of Gandhi;
” We thank Thee God! for thy Trees,
Thou comest very near to us through thy Trees.
From them we have beauty, wisdom, love,
The air we breathe, the water we drink,
the food we eat and the strength.
Help us, Oh God!
to give our best to life
and leave the world
a little more beautiful and worthy
for having lived in it.
Prosper thou our planting
and establish thy kingdom of love
and understanding on the Earth.
For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park
For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
For more information:
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063
Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot
Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com
Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map
Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park
Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)
1./ Learn.
2./ Experience
3./ Do Something: ***
Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions.
— Pema Chodron
“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.”
—Thich Nhat Hanh
May is Mental Health Awareness Month
#EveryDayCounts
#MotivationalMonday
#MondayMotivation
#BeAwesome
#BeHappy
#createSomethingBeautiful
#HappyMonday
#MentalHealth
#SelfCare
#SmileLaughDaily
#community
#YouAreNotAlone
#MentalHealthAwarenessMonth
#FutureGenerations
#BeKind
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 
