In my opinion, hiking is physically and mentally healing. Let me explain. There have been multiple clinical studies on the effectiveness of walking in nature and how it helps to decrease the cortisol levels in the body. Let’s back-up and discuss cortisol and the adrenal glands. There’s a lot of big words but stay with me.

The Adrenal glands are located on top of your kidney. The kidneys are the organs that filter your blood and gets rid of the toxins in it by producing urine. The Adrenal glands release four hormones including epinephrine/norepinephrine (the fight/flight response aka “an adrenaline rush”), cortisol (stress hormone), aldosterone (fluid balance) and sex hormones ( dopamine/oxytocin/serotonin-these regulates mood).  These four hormones work together to regulate your body’s metabolism (which manages the energy you get from food you eat), immune system, blood pressure, development of sexual characteristics and your body’s response to stress.

For non-medical individuals, I’m going to focus in on epinephrine/norepinephrine, and cortisol. Cortisol is a steroid hormone that helps to control the body’s use of carbs, fats, and proteins, protects our body from illness/injury, and helps control your wake-sleep cycle. It’s produced by stress inflicted on the body. Essentially when your body is under high stress it kicks into its fight or flight mode (epinephrine/norepinephrine) or commonly known as “adrenaline.” Adrenaline will increase your heart rate as well as your blood pressure and gives a boost of energy then cortisol enhances the use of that energy to handle the stressor. Once the stressor or threat has passed, adrenaline and cortisol levels drop to return to baseline levels. When your body is under sustained stress it has to continue to keep up with the demands of cortisol being released and eventually starts to shut down the less important functions of the body such as the digestive system. These sustained higher amounts of cortisol can contribute to fatigue, headaches, pain or tension in the neck, jaw, or back, constipation, bloating, diarrhea, anxiety, depression, irritability, and poor sleep. So, when out hiking through the miles and miles of the beautiful scenic trials the cortisol levels will increase slightly then it will start to decrease and eventually will stabilize as stress slips away. Throughout your hike norepinephrine and sex hormones will trigger the release of dopamine and serotonin which will improve your mood.

My job as a nurse is very demanding and am often placed in high-stress situations. It is so important to make sure I take care of myself which includes decompressing on my days off so I can adequately take care of my lil’ patients. Throughout nursing school, I was given advice on how to create boundaries and a work/life balance which included having an outlet in order to decompress. My outlet—-HIKING. I didn’t realize just how important that advice was going to be until I was knee deep into my first year as a nurse. The best way I have found to release my stress from work is a day out in the fresh air where I can push my muscles to their limits, spend time in prayer/meditation, and bask in beautiful scenic views. The more strenuous or sometimes the longer the hike, the better I feel afterwards. Don’t get me wrong sometimes my muscles ache afterwards or even into the next day. However, after a day on the trail, I can focus and be mentally/physically present for rest of my days off because my mind feels clear and my body feels great. I return to work in a better mood and more focused to provide the best care for the lil’ patients I’ve been assigned.

If you are feeling stressed recently, try going on a walk and see if there’s improvement in feeling more relaxed.

Citations:

Cleveland Clinic medical professional (Ed.). (2022, May 13). Adrenal gland: What it is, function, symptoms & disorders. Cleveland Clinic. Retrieved December 30, 2022, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/23005-adrenal-gland

Harvard Medical School (Ed.). (2020, July 7). Exercising to relax – harvard health publishing. Harvard Health. Retrieved December 30, 2022, from https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/exercising-to-relax