Journal #2

Wow. What a weekend. Trekking off with the Saturday crew of like-minded, outdoors-loving students, I had the pleasure of experiencing the Royal National Park for the first time. For me, it truly ended up being a weekend of personal discovery and empowerment, but also an educational experience on a multitude of levels.

I feel as though the exercise we completed in lecture on August 18^th did indeed help in my reflection process and allow me to collect my thoughts from this past weekend, so I have included it here to aid in my reflection process.

 Something I learned about myself: This past Saturday morning, I woke up sick – and when I say sick, I mean aching chest, no voice, head congestion kind of sick. The kind of sick that leaves you wheezing and longing for a healthy breath of fresh air. The kind of sick where I would have been content to sleep in and lay in bed all day drinking hot lemon and honey. But with my trip scheduled that day, I had no choice but to get up, nibble on some breakfast, and make my way to the Fischer Library. As well as illness weighing me down, I have been struggling with an IT band injury since December of 2014. Having embarked on a 10km bush walk the day before, I was definitely feeling all my sickness and aches Saturday. However, despite being a 2 or 3 on the 5-finger shoot for the majority of the day, I was able to push through the physical limitations holding me back, and make it through the entire 8km bush walk without slowing down. This made me realize just how strong I can be. To wake up barely functioning, to completing an entire bush walk was an empowering experience, and I now know that no matter what the task at hand may be, or how sick, sore or bad I feel, I have the emotional and mental strength to push through. And that realization means that in whatever aspect of my life, whether it be school, work or personal relationships, I will be able to push through – I am strong.

However, my personal state this past weekend has also given me time to think about the upcoming trip to the Blue Mountains, and how I will be able to make it a more enjoyable on a personal level (going for that 5/5!). The next few weeks will focus on making sure I am healthy and I will be taking the time to focus on my own well-being. This means by the time we embark for a three-day journey, I will be cold-free and my injury will be at a manageable level. I will be getting lots of sleep in order to ensure these goals are achieved by the beginning of September.

I am also a believer of the idea of nature making a positive impact on the emotional, psychological and physical well-being of humans, and as we discussed in class, the empirical research behind it has shown how effective it can be. The Biophilia Hypothesis, for example, means through understanding that we as human beings have a better appreciation of nature, which in turn positively affects our own spiritual and mental well-being (Doughty, 1996). Although currently some may find the new age approaches of spiritual connection and nature unscientific and somewhat “hippie”, theories such as the Attention Restoration Theory has shown that there is scientific support for the positive effects of nature on the human mind. I believe that from spiritual well-being comes a better appreciation and even love for oneself, and from that comes better emotional health. Thus, if one can improve their spiritual well-being in nature, consequently their emotional and physical well-being and ability to take care of and appreciate oneself will increase as well. So, how does this relate to the Royal National Parks trip and the upcoming Blue Mountains trip? Being in nature this past weekend has given me the desire and motivation to ensure that I am able to perform to my absolute best, so that I might enjoy the Blue Mountains to their stunning, full potential.

 Some final thoughts from this weekend – during our 10-minute silent reflection, I took the time to put my feelings into words. Although the ideas may be jumbled and rough I would like to share that personal moment of reflection with you, as a way of showing exactly what was going through my mind in that moment, surrounded by nature.

Thank you for everything this weekend, and I’m looking forward to our next outdoor excursion as a class!

Steph

Reference:

Doughty, R. W. (1996). The biophilia hypothesis. Washington: Blackwell Publishers.