On a non walking day!

What a fabulous spell of warm spring weather we are having at the moment!  As I sit in my office typing this in my lunch hour, I can look out of the window and see the beautiful sunshine and the clear deep blue sky, and wish I was out on the hills.  They seem to call me on days like this!  But today is a working day so I am ‘desk bound’!  Ah but later in the week it is different – the joys of being semi-retired :)!

One of the things I often do on my ‘non walking’ days is to think ahead.  I enjoy planning new walks in areas that perhaps I don’t walk so often.  I also like varying familiar walks, trying paths that are new to me, because no matter how often you walk, there are always slightly different routes to take – even a slight change can add freshness to a well walked route.  And it is amazing how different common views can look from a slightly different perspective.  The view below for instance is a very common view but there are very few people who would get to see it from this particular viewpoint!

Add to this the other variables like the time of day, the weather, the time of year, the people you might meet along the way, even the way you are feeling on that day, and there is almost infinitesimal variety to be enjoyed.  The same walk on different days is in reality never the same.  That’s why I still love to walk the old familiar areas and I never tire of it – they never become ‘over familiar’!

Something I have been thinking about today is combining my day job with the YMCA with my love of walking and the outdoors.  Part of my role at the YMCA involves the development and management of Sandyholme which is a large 32 bed self catered retreat and activity centre in Studland.

It is literally minutes from the Dorset Coast Path, heathland and hilltops as well as the sea so makes an ideal centre for group activity breaks.  The benefit of walking and other physical activities is well documented and I am a great believer in the use of walking as a stress buster – and there is plenty of stress around these days!  If we could just take people out of the stressful environment even for a short time, I believe it would help them.  After all, who could possibly stand looking at the view below, with the sound of the surf and the skylarks all around, and a gentle sea breeze blowing, and not feel the stress drain from them?

Getting away into the hills or along the coast can help put life into perspective  and help you see things differently.  Just on a physical level, walking helps pump blood to the brain which can improve mood, and add to that the psychological effect of being away from a stressful situation and you get a double benefit.  Go on, give it a go!!

Thanks for stopping by and for reading the ramblings of The Dorset Rambler.  I hope you will call again.

The Dorset Rambler