For the past couple of months, every Sunday, my uncle, aunt, nephews, and I will go hiking together. These are the people in the family, including me, who don’t mind waking up at 8 o’clock in the morning on a Sunday morning just to drive a half an hour to walk an hour on a hiking trail.

Usually, on weekdays I wake up at about 7 o’clock. So besides Saturdays, I don’t get that many days to sleep in. That’s why on Sundays I sometimes groan when I have to wake up early, but I pull myself together and go anyway. The thing is once my feet hit the ground, I feel energized. With the first starting steps, I know my feet can carry me for the next thousand or so steps.

What I like most about hiking is spending some time away from the city life, or the busy life where it is always seems like people are running around trying to get somewhere and stressed out. When you are away from the city life, away from the noisy cars driving back and forth sometimes honking at one another, away from the fast footsteps of high heels and business shoes, the nonstop chattering of people, sometimes even yelling at one another, when you’re away from this and in an area where your more with nature, you just feel at peace, yet revitalized at the same time.

Depending on where you’re hiking, your vision will be a lot different from what you see in the city. For me, it’s usually lots of green trees, rocky steps sometimes covered with green moss, blue skies with clouds floating, and sunrays passing through the leaves of the trees lighting the pathway in front or nearby. Alhough the view may be beautiful, the hike itself sometimes isn’t a walk in the park, but can get rather tiring fast.

For example, usually you start below at some part and as you move forward, you ascend until you reach the top of the trail which is the goal, and then you ascend back down. The trail sometimes can be hard, literally filled with hundreds of human made wooden or rock staircases going upwards before you reach the top. Sometimes the trail is windy, and you have to weave in and out of what seems like a jungle. Sometimes the trail is steep, so you have to use the ropes next to you and a lot of leg muscle to keep going up or down. And sometimes you can never see more than ten feet away from you, so you have no idea where you are going (if it’s your first time) and you just have to have faith that you’ll reach the end with every step you take.

Even though physically, it may seem exhausting, it really never feels like it because your thoughts are always wandering as you’re walking. That’s the most important thing I like about hiking is that it brings peace in my body and thoughts drift freely and gently, exploring new thoughts that enlighten me or put me in a good mood.

I’m a strong believer that your thoughts operatethe bestwhen your body is completely at peace. When your body is at peace, there is clarity in the mind. Since you’re constantly moving, blood flow is going throughout the body, making it easier to think, especially in a vibrant colored area where it feels quiet, calm, and peaceful.

Sometimes you’ll think of memories of the past, good or bad, but it’s rather easy to shift negative thoughts into positive thoughts in a nature-like environment. Sometimes, with the passing of so many thoughts, you’ll think of one that just give you a light bulb moment which you can remember and implement later at home. Sometimes, you’ll just recall all the happy moments you had when you were young and it will just make you chuckle and realize how silly life can be.

And sometimes in the midst of your thoughts, you’ll be hear a “hello” from a person passing by, in which you say “hello” or “good morning” back and it never feels as awkward as it would be in the city if you were passing somebody on the street.

Hiking itself isn’t really about the path, it’s more about spending time away from the pressure and stress of society and becoming more in tuned with yourself as a person and as with nature too. And you don’t have to go hiking at a nearby mountain in order to do this. Walking in a park, bicycling outside of the city, or any outdoor activity can accomplish this. But I find the closer you are in a nature-like environment, there easier it is to just let go of yourself.

The famous French painter, Claude Monet once said, “The richness I achieve comes from Nature, the source of my inspiration.” Whether it is hiking in nature, or anything else similar, sometimes the simplicity of nature does give us that inspiration we need in order for us to move casually and peacefully through our daily lives.