I love the heat and am sad that August is waning and summer is ending. As I reflect on the
summer I realize how happy I am when I can be outdoors doing what I love: gardening, walking, biking and hiking. Above is a photo, taken from Whistler/Blackcomb’s website, of the glorious
High Note Trail that Mel and I hiked a couple of weeks ago.
The trail incorporates descents through rugged terrain where we had to hold onto rock or ropes, slow meanders through meadows showcasing beautiful wild flowers, walks across snow fields (that is us on a small snow field), traversing creeks and many long, hot climbs.
High Note trail starts at the top of the Peak Chair, it loops around Whistler Mountain to the Symphony ski area and then winds over to Harmony Chair and its wide open ski bowls before ending at the Roundhouse Lodge, for a total distance of approximately 10 km. Along the way there were stunning views of Black Tusk, Cheakamus Lake, several water falls and wide open meadows.
As we moved across the different types of terrain I felt myself altering my movements to
accommodate the ground under me. I also kept changing my focus of attention so that I could
attune to how not only my legs and feet were moving, but what I sensed in my lower back,
between my shoulder blades, where I might be tensing muscles to stay upright and how I was breathing.
I frequently suggest to my clients coming for individual Feldenkrais sessions or attending classes
that they vary the surfaces they walk on, moving from the hard concrete pavement to soft grass;
walk on a mud trail, onto small pebbles and rocks and on the sand at the beach. As we change surfaces we need to discover new ways of maintaining skeletal support to continue to feel long through the entire spine and to stay balanced and connected to the ground. As we do this our brain is continuously working to alter its attention and to creating different movement patterns.
If you were hiking this summer and have experiences to share I would love to hear from you. Please comment on our blog page.
