I am spending this summer hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), a national scenic trail that runs 2,665 miles from Mexico to Canada. This is a huge task that takes a lot of time, energy, and effort, but also gives a lot back. I am learning a lot on this journey that can be applied to life as a whole. This is the fifth installment in the series: Lessons from the Trail.

Listening to Your Body

As I've mentioned in previous installments, I tend to push myself. More than that, I sometimes push myself up to or beyond my limits, both mentally and physically. I have always hated taking sick days from class and when I twisted my ankle in a Mardi Gras parade last year, I insisted on still doing everything the same. I have always ignored what my body in favor of achieving whatever goal I had set out to do. That doesn't fly on the trail.

On the trail. You have two jobs: Walk, and don't die. As such, your body and your health is more important than it is in day to day life. Your body is the tool that you use every day to do your job. And if that tool is not in a highly functioning state, you won't be able to get very much work done. When I started the trail, I didn't pay much mind to what my body was telling me. I was so focused on getting in 15, 20, 25 miles a day, that I ignored what it needed. I skipped meals to get in higher miles, I kept hiking when I was pain, and I didn't stop for water every time I was thirsty because I told myself it would take too long. Sometimes I wasn't even ignoring what my body was telling me, but simply not paying attention to what it needed regardless. For example, I tend to get less hungry when I am exercising a lot, so while I was burning between three and seven thousand calories a day, I would eat less than two thousand calories. I wasn't hungry, so I didn't eat, even though I knew my body needed the fuel. Slowly but surely, that caught up to me. I lost twenty pounds in a month, I had multiple injuries in my foot and shoulder, and I was constantly dehydrated. It wasn't until after the third injury that I really started to notice how much I was ignoring my body and started to make a change. I made myself eat more and stopped more often to drink water and give my joints a break. Once I started doing this, everything changed. I felt less exhausted, I had fewer injuries, and just generally was in better health. I gained back ten of the twenty pounds I lost (all as muscle) and felt better about my body than I have since I was a little kid.

I learned that I can't just ignore my body. It's part of who I am and if my body isn't doing well, neither is my mind. The mind-body connection has been reformed and emphasized for me. Not only have I learned to listen to my body, but also how much better my brain functions when my body is in good health. At home, this will manifest through eating better, maintaining a more steady exercise routine, and performing more self-care when I feel upset or stressed. I believe that this will result in a happier and healthier day to day life. And that is my fifth Lesson From The Trail.