Trails to happiness

Mountain High

The experience of hiking is unique, research suggests, conveying benefits beyond what you receive from typical exercise. Not only does it oxygenate your heart, it helps keep your mind sharper, your body calmer, your creativity more alive, and your relationships happier. And, if you like happen to live in a place where nearby woods allow for hiking among trees, all the better: Evidence suggests that being around trees may provide extra benefits, perhaps because of certain organic compounds that trees exude that boost our mood and our overall psychological well-being.
Hiking in nature is so powerful for our health and well-being that some doctors have begun prescribing it as an adjunct to other treatments for disease. As one group of researchers puts it, “The synergistic effect of physical activity and time spent in nature make hiking an ideal activity to increase overall health and wellness.”

Here is what science is saying about the benefits of hiking.

1. Hiking keeps your mind sharper than many other forms of exercise.
2. Hiking helps to keep you calm and happy.
3. Hiking helps your relationships.
4. Hiking can increase our creativity.
5. Hiking helps cement a positive relationship with the natural world.

Beyond that, hiking benefits our planet indirectly, because it increases our connection to nature. Developing a positive relationship with the natural world can help us to care about its fate, making us more committed to conservation efforts. When we have a personal connection to nature, we are more likely to want to protect it. That means experiences in nature—like hiking—can be mutually beneficial, helping people and the earth.

This all goes to show that hiking may be one of the best ways to move your body, and I, personally, have recommitted to hiking regularly in the new year. Instead of spending all day every day in front of a computer, I’m taking time to walk outside—even if it’s just for 15 minutes. And I’m definitely noticing improvements in my mood, creativity, and relationships, as well as a growing sense of spiritual connection to the natural world.

SA ROTA D’EN PALERM-PUIG DE SANT NOFRE

One of our favourite hikes

Salimos de Sa Rota, a lo lejos las montañas de la sierra hacen de bambalina del paisaje. Tomamos el camino de Ariany que recorre todo el Pla de Sineu por su centro. Las extensiones de cereal motean el paisaje creando una sensación de amplitud. El como bóveda, el horizonte como destino. La ruta trascurre entre campos de labor moteados de pequeñas casas. Al fondo, a lo lejos, el Puig de Sant Nofre observa desde su atalaya; a medida que nos aceramos vemos el promontorio de rocas que lo corona. Ascendemos al puig por un sendero entre marjades. A nuestra derecha la majestuosa possesió de Sa Bastida nos contempla. Al llegar a la cima podemos extasiarnos de la vista. Toda la isla a nuestros pies.

Ficha técnica

Recorrido: apróx. 12 km.

Duración aproximada, 5 h incluido el tiempo del picnic.

Desnivel positivo: 250 m.

Dificultad: fácil.

Equipo básico: buen calzado, mochila.

Equipo circunstancial: adecuado a la época del año y a la meteo.

Picnic: consistente y agua.