Calming the Mind

A quick tool for finding some calm and reconnecting with nature.

One of the most reliable tools I’ve found for calming the mind is anything but novel: walking, specifically, walking in nature.

But not all walks are created equal. A good hike has a few important preconditions.

First, it has to be far enough removed from everyday chaos so that the monkey mind can slowly quiet down. This means no distractions from today’s society and technology; most importantly limited phone use (I find it hard to leave my phone, so ideally it can be placed in a backpack so it’s not pulled up mindlessly). Additionally, the path is away from the background noise of traffic or airplanes that beckon us back to civilization and anxious thought. This liberation allows deeper thoughts to have space to emerge. This isn’t immediate. It’s gradual. The noise seems to fade in layers, not necessarily consciously but the ambient angst tones down.

Second, it needs enough distance to allow for rumination. Time to sit with a single idea, turn it over, stress-test it or, if you’re with others, to move through different conversations with people in your pack. Over the course of the journey, surface talk gives way to something more deliberate.

Third, and this is important, it must include moments of real challenge. Our 8 year old would tell you, “If it is a paved trail it doesn’t count as a hike…” and while you don’t have to take your walks quite as seriously as he does, sections of a hike or walk that demand 100% focus.

This is key…

Walking, like the beat of daily life, can run on autopilot. The subconscious handles the system while the conscious mind drifts. Challenging terrain disrupts the loop and forces focus. In those challenging moments, the mind and body reconnect to solve a physical problem in real time. When faced with crossing an ice cold creek on slippery rocks or that snap-moment of realizing the challenge of a steep hill, you don’t have a choice but to focus your attention on the matter at hand.

That forcing function is grounding and refreshes something fundamentally human that we lose in our taxing and distracting world.

As a good hike progresses, a rhythm emerges and steps become more consistent. Thought patterns narrow and deepen. Conversations, if there are any, lock onto a subject and stay there. Not necessarily deep in some philosophical sense, but focused and intentional.

There’s rarely a single moment of enlightenment. No lightning bolt. Instead, there’s a slow melting. A gradual reconnection with nature, and maybe with something deeper.

It’s been a tumultuous start to the year, but Spring is coming. I hope you seek out nature for replenishment. In a world defined by constant noise and rapid change, there’s something profoundly stabilizing about environments shaped by consistent patterns over millennia.

In some sense, they remind us what steady feels like.

And sometimes, that’s exactly what the mind needs.