A walk through the trees can be healing

​In less than two weeks, I'm headed to run a "friendly" race in Tennessee - The Tennessee Mile. I say friendly because the race is really a formal way for people to come together to informally challenge themselves on a tough course. I also say friendly tongue in cheek - because, well, it IS a tough course.

The challenge takes place on a 1.1 mile course rightfully called the Murder Mile.

To prepare myself, last night I interviewed Becca Jones and Jon Cox who direct this race. They were both delightful and encouraging to chat with. I can't wait to share the interview later this week.

But this morning, I want to share a part of that conversation that stayed with me last night long after we finished.

Becca is an avid runner. But almost all of Becca's running has come on the trails. Most runners follow a more traditional path of running road races, like a marathon, then they discover that to pursue longer distances they have to hit the trails. This makes Becca sort of non-traditional.

In our chat I discovered, yes, in a beautiful sort of way, non-traditional is a great way to describe Becca.

I asked Becca, "why the trails?"

Becca said, "because they speak to my soul."

I feel blessed to know exactly what she meant. I'm saddened when I reflect on the reality that many don't and won't understand what she meant.

I was reading my bible in the book of Genesis this morning. The bible says that when God created the trees he created them because they were beautiful to look at and good to eat.

In every bible translation I looked through, beautiful to look at is listed first. It's been my experience that the way things are worded - the order of things - is worth considering when reading the bible.

I've always said of my own trail running journey that I find a peace out there. It's a peace that requires no preparation. No mental exercises. It simply requires my presence among the trees.

There's a lot of research to suggest I'm not the only one. Studies have been done in hospitals that show patients who can look at trees out their windows require less pain medicine. Other studies have shown that patients who have access to a hospital garden experience less stress; they find restoration from mental and emotional fatigue.

You can read more in this interesting article on the Scientific American website: (https://www.scientificamerican.com/.../nature-that-nurtures/)

I love that in the earliest days of creation God chose to plant the first humans in a garden.

I love that science tells us today we are still wired to feel our best - in a garden - surrounded by trees.

And I love that Becca Jones says those trees speak to her soul.

We are all struggling in different ways right now. Some of those struggles are very complex. I get that. I promise you I do. But all of the solutions don't have to be impossible to figure out.

Some of the solution is simply knowing that trees are beautiful to look at.

This week leave it all behind and just go for a walk among the trees. Look at them. And maybe quietly say to yourself, they really are beautiful. It mind be the reminder you need that life, too, is more beautiful than it seems.