The Little Doses of Mother Nature

It all started during the year 2020 when the pandemic was at its peak and we were all locked down at home. Family, Work, School everything was in the four walls of home. Interaction with people outside home became virtual , schools and colleges went online. My entire family has always been crazy about National Parks and spending time in nature.. We were missing our road trips, visiting National Parks and not being able to spend time in the wilderness. This is when my husband took an initiative and decided to start hiking every weekend exploring new areas in the vicinity of our awesome Golden state and Bay Area.? We covered a total of 53 unique trails since June 2020 until now.

Link: Hiking Trails - Bay Area

My way of relaxing and taking care of my mental health has always been either spending time in my garden , taking care of my beautiful succulents and other plants or creating different kinds of cuisines, painting or writing blogs. I decided to join him for the first few hikes to see how it goes and then it was an excitement of exploration around “where we are going next weekend”. Our best buddy during our exploration was “All Trails App”. Our hikes were not too crazy. We travelled within an hour, did a 6-10 miles hike with utmost 2000 feet elevation and then our reward was “A little snack “( The highlight of the hike). For those who do not live in Silicon Valley might have a notion that this place is just filled with high tech companies with huge office spaces. It? is true but in reality it's one of the best places to live in terms of enjoying various activities within 2-3 hours and was able to visit 50 plus unique trails? and preserves during my hiking journey and still not done.

Hiking has been a game changer in the way I have started thinking.? Sharing some of my musings here:

1. Perseverance always Pays: Yes, It's going to be hard but it's going to be fine. Life is a hiking trail and it has its own twists and turns. On the trail, we keep one foot in front of the other for hours in order to reach our destination. It's the motto of “Keep Going” which will allow us to understand: how to be present in the moment, how to connect deeper with people and nature around us and process things with more clarity. One day that crazy dream of yours will definitely come true.
2. Clearing the Clutter: While you are on the trail and in the middle of nature, it helped me clear the clutter in my head. It allowed me to get disconnected with my devices, screens, and social media . I could go for long stretches without talking, listen to my own breath in the wilderness, smell the freshness of trees and listen to the melodious sound of birds. I like to take pictures but during these hikes , I rarely took. My husband captured the views and I embraced the views with my eyes. The trips to these hikes allowed me to slow down at times.
3. ?We will cross the bridge when we come to it: We all spend too much time worrying about the known, unknown and it does impact our enthusiasm, energy level and our passions. I have personally been a victim of this and still on a learning path. On a forest trail we come across water streams,? bridges, uneven rocky paths and we just wade through it with nimbleness because we know that going back is not an option. We do not worry about where the trail will end and will climb each hill as we get to it. Same is in our life.? Going with the flow is one way to sit tight and enjoy the moment.?
4. Power of Mother Nature:? In Nature, nothing is perfect and yet everything is Perfect. Nature comes with its force and it is unforgiving and literally can bring you down on knees with its ruthlessness. When we went to canyon trails and redwood forests, it reminded us how insignificant? we are in comparison to Mother Nature. Nature is a great force to make you resilient, curious and giving you a reminder about “Staying Humble”.?
5. Reward yourself and Celebrate: The kid in me was always there. For every hike, as soon as we used to get to the end of the hike and head to the parking lot, the first question was “What snack are we having today?” This was our reward at the end of the hike. Reminder to all of us that it is important to celebrate and reward yourself for your achievements from time to time.

We still have many more trails to cover but I hope that if you get to read this, it will give you an opportunity to explore the beauty around you.