Mindful Walking & The Power of Being in Nature: A Conversation with Alex Strauss

Welcome to the joyful journey podcast. If you're looking for more clarity in your life, clarity of purpose or how to activate that purpose, and you are someone who wants to operate from your highest self to be a force for good, you know this world craves, then this is the show for you. I'm Anita Adams, your host and guide to finding clarity and creating a life you love. Let's tap into our inner wisdom, access our highest self and unleash joy. As we do this, we raise our vibration and heightened the collective consciousness. And that my friend, is the joyful journey. Let's dive in. Hey, joyful journey are Anita Adams here, your host and today I'm excited to introduce you to someone discovered must be my soul sisters, someone who shares my mission to get more people connecting with nature. Alex Strauss, Alex is also a speaker, a certified natural mindfulness guide and the author of The Best Selling Author the best selling book, the mindful Walker, Alec started walking in her suburban North Carolina neighborhood in 2007. After a move across the country left her floundering mentally and physically. The simple daily practice of communing quietly with nature became a sanctuary from the stresses of life, a fitness routine that actually fit into her busy life, and a path back to wellness. Nine years later, Alex published her first edition of the best selling book than the mindful Walker, which she revised, updated and released in 2020, along with the simple path, a card deck of 52, mindful walks. Today, she runs a membership program providing weekly mindful walks and journal prompts to help busy people harness the power of natural mindfulness. Welcome, Alex, I'm so thrilled to have you with me here today. Thank you so much. Thank you for I when I listened to my introduction, I'm just I'm just like, oh, that sounds really cool. Like, if it wasn't me, I was interested in that person. I want to learn more about because that's what I'm she's my kind of gal. Well, that's exactly how I felt when I met you. I'm like, wow, my people. Oh, my gosh, Likewise, likewise. And it was so fun to have you be a part of the symposium last year, it just was a perfect fit. Yeah, that was so great. You know, why don't we start with that? Why don't you just tell people about the symposium? Because that's something people can access? Ongoing, correct? It's, yeah, yeah, I think so. Well, yeah. So the rise up rooted symposium is became my way after having sort of done this mindful Walker stuff in isolation for a while, as Anita mentioned, you know, I wrote my book, and I did these cards. And, and I've been I've started a membership site, and I did these things just sort of on my own. And then I began to, to realize that there are a whole lot of people all over the world, including yourself doing work in, in and around the sort of nature connection space, right, you know, the idea of helping to connect people more deeply with the natural world. There are actually a lot of people doing this. And I had no idea. And as I began to sort of get out there a little more and do YouTube videos, do do more stuff out in the world. I got connected with people and, and thought, gosh, wouldn't it be so nice if there was a single online event that brought a lot of these people together, talking about being in nature and the value of nature in their lives? From a lot of different standpoints? You know, from a lot of different perspectives? Yeah, I was I was really attracted to that. I thought you had so many different perspectives, like how many speakers did you have? You had so many people that were Yeah, I had? Well, I have 20 each time. So we do a symposium twice a year. So we run it live twice a year, in the spring at around Beltane in May, and in the autumn, around. So weighing in October, early November. So So I've had 20 speakers each time. So I've interviewed 60 People now all different people from all over the world, this past symposium, the one that you were a part of, well, let's see. Were you in the spring or you were last fall? I was in the most recent one. So we're in the most recently, we had people from eight countries represented in that we had speakers from eight different cool yeah, it was just so Awesome, and it was it's just kind of my way, you know, it's a free thing, it's a free event, people can go to RiSE dash up dash routed.com, I'm sure you'll include the link and stuff. And you can see and Anita and all the other speakers who spoke and you can, you can access that and you can, there'll be information coming soon about the spring one and a whole nother group of people, but it's just kind of a way for me to, it's a little gift, it's a little gift to myself and also to the world. Because, you know, like I say it's free. It's just a wonderful way. If you are interested in nature connection and and what it does for your soul, and your body and your brain as well, this is a great way to learn more from a lot of people all at one time in one space. And of course, from a selfish standpoint, it's my opportunity to learn from and connect with all these people to, I don't feel like you know, so I don't feel like I'm just operating in isolation, I'm sure you know how that feels. When you do a podcast, or you do work online, it can feel kind of isolating, when you're just, you know, kind of out there at your computer, you know, doing your thing. This allows me to connect with a lot of different people. So it's super fun, including you, which is awesome. I really enjoyed it. And again, thank you for the opportunity for for being invited to that to connect with some amazing people. And I have I've connected with a lot of great goals from that. So yeah, good. Wonderful. All right, I want you to explain if you wouldn't mind the difference between simply walking outdoors and walking mindfully. And why is that so important? Yeah. Okay, well, there's a lot of research behind the idea that, you know, you hear this term mindfulness thrown around, and people talk about mindful eating or mindful exercise or mindful this, that and the other. And there's increasing evidence that when we do things, anything, including eating mindfully, which is to say, present moment focused, that thing is more impactful, more effective, you know, mindful eating is about paying attention to what you're putting in your mouth, you know, and, and chewing slowly and listening to your body and recognizing when you're full, and how different, you know, foods and tastes affect you and whatnot. And mindful walking is simply bringing that idea of being very present you mindfulness, a lot of times it's associated with meditation, right. And meditation is definitely one way to employ and enjoy mindfulness. But but it's not the only way. Okay, it's not the only path to mindfulness, mindfulness is not this, like weird sort of secret woowoo thing, it simply means you practice sort of shutting out the other, all the busy stuff in your brain that we are so used to, we're so used to it, we don't even notice it anymore. And you know, as a culture, we constantly have, we're just habitual thinkers, you know, and, and the world is moving pretty fast. And so our brains have to move pretty fast to keep up with it. And the idea of mindfulness is just kind of shutting that down for a little while, getting getting quiet, getting present, not thinking about what's coming up, not thinking about what happened before, or, you know, just kind of letting that go letting the like, I like to think of your head as a snowglobe. Kind of, and you just all the things settle, you know, stop shaking it around, let all the things settle. And, and then doing that while you're taking a walk. And when you are mindful, as you're walking in the outdoors, what happens is your chest, do you notice things. And your your mind just kind of opens up to stuff that we normally kind of walk by, or don't even really pay that much attention to. And so the end, and the beautiful thing, and the thing that I love this sort of synergistic effect is that nature herself induces mindfulness. So when we get ourselves into a natural setting, and I'm sure that you've experienced this, because you're very connected to nature, when we get out into nature, we get more mindful, you know, naturally, so it helps with the process. And vice versa. When we're mindful in nature, we get more out of being in nature and out of that connection. Yeah, absolutely. So do you recommend going for walks in nature by yourself or can you achieve this mindfulness in the company of somebody else?

Oh, that's a great question. So you absolutely can be mindful In the presence of someone else, but you can't do it while you're having a conversation, or you're, you know, listening to, for instance, this podcast. So it's wonderful to listen to this podcast. And it's wonderful to do it while you're walking. But I definitely recommend that if you are going to practice something like mindful walking, or really any mindfulness practice, you need to do it without conversing with anyone without listening to anything without being distracted by anything else. So, you know, just like there are class meditation classes, where you have a whole bunch of people in one space, you know, and you're all sitting there meditating. And that's possible, right? But they're not chatting with each other while they're doing it. So it's kind of it's kind of like that. So in my case, I, I love to walk with my neighbor. And I frequently do and we walk and we chat, and we walk with our dogs, we have a good time. But when I'm going to take my mind for a walk for me for my, you know, souls, edification, and all of the good things that it does for me, I do it by myself. So yeah, it is that does that include without the dogs? Actually, I usually take my dogs along, dogs are fabulous for teaching us mindfulness. dogs live in a mindful state perpetually, your dog, never, almost never, never thinking beyond a few seconds ahead, or a couple of seconds behind your dog is never ruminating about what happened yesterday, or worrying about what's coming down the road or concerned about your dog is just, you watch your dog, you're there sniffing, they're, they're right there, right, then they're looking at that squirrel, that tree, they're sniffing that pile of stuff. They're just right there, you know. And so I do take my dogs along with me, and, and I watched them and I pay attention to what they're doing and what they like to and it actually helps me to be more mindful. It's so great. I love it. I just I how much we can learn from our pets. I'm learning I'm learning. You know, I don't know if this will be ever anyone will ever see this on video. But right now behind me, my dog is taking a deep snooze on a mat next to the heater. And I'm learning and learning that this is afternoon naps. Exactly. Exactly. Over the Map. Very cool. It's interesting, you know, my husband recently retired. And so now he's been joining me for a lot of lots and, and I'm I'm like, as much as I love having going for my walks with my husband, the quality of my walk is not that it's not worse. Though, it's a different experience. And I think I need to make sure I get my solo walks in because I connect in a much different way. Even when my husband and I walk in silence, I find my mind is on him, you know, wondering, you know what's good thinking about a conversation or something I want to be talking to him about I'm not as present to my environment. So yeah, just it's just a noticing that I've had recently because I've been you know, doing these daily walks for three years now. Good for you. And yeah, and it's it's just been a different experience. And the other thing I wanted to comment on that you you were saying about noticing everything around you. When I go for my walk sometimes so that I've been like I said, doing these for almost three years, and it's pretty much the same walk that I'm doing I need to make Yeah. And yet what I love is how much it changes all the time. And it's not even just this between the seasons. There's it's daily for something different. And I've almost made it into a game I won't say almost I am I have made it into a game. It's what what can I discover today that I haven't noticed before. And it's just, it gamified the walk in a way you absolutely get connected. And that's so interesting. That's actually one of the things that I teach in my programs I teach people to do to begin because as I said before, we're most of us, if you're not doing this, like you do now on a regular basis if you're not used to that, where we see things because we have to in big chunks. So like you you miss the details, right? And we don't see those little changes. We might notice the seasonal changes, like you said, but we don't we look out and we see a tree, I say to people so what do you see a tree or you know, a few trees and it's like okay, but go deeper. You know what else what else do you see? What do you notice about that tree. Oh, that's Brown. Tall, you know? But yeah, is it is it really actually brown like look at it, it's, it's gray, it's black, it has green stuff growing on it, you know, the more you look, the quieter your mind gets. And the more you allow yourself to go deeper and pay attention to those things, then you begin to notice those little details. And it draws you even deeper into a more mindful state. When you're detail when you're focused on those little minut changes, like you said and needed that you can notice from day today, we start with I like to start when people are new to this, I start with seasonal changes, because they're big. And we're used to looking at the big you know, the big thing so so now the tree, the leaves are no longer green. Now they're, you know, changing colors. But the subtle changes that happen from day to day is are really, I think so interesting. And what I'm so attracted to, in my own personal practice. Yeah, I get excited when I discover something new that I haven't noticed before. And I'm like, oh, yeah, that's been there. That's been there all the time. And I'm just seeing it. And it makes me wonder what else is right in front of mess? Yeah. Jeff's haven't noticed. So it gets you present in other ways. So absolutely, it does. Right. I absolutely think this practice is not, it's not something that you do in isolation that just affects you during that time you're walking, the beautiful thing about it is that it does have a knock on effect, a ripple effect. For your whole, you know, on all aspects of your life, you become a more mindful person, a more grounded person, a person who can pay attention to those little details a person who can on demand, when needed, get quieter inside, you become more present with the people in your life. You know, you have you have deeper conversations, because we're able to get into that quiet space, you know, in your head, in your heart and be and be more open. So absolutely, it affects your entire life. Yeah. So cool. So I know, right? Simple. It is so simple. It is so simple. You somewhere on your site, you use the term natural mindfulness, and I don't I don't know what you mean exactly. By natural mindfulness. Can you explain that term? Yeah, natural mindfulness is a term I think, actually, my friend Ian Banyard might have coined that and Ian is a is a natural mindfulness guide, and certified me in natural mindfulness. And what Ian means when he refers to it is simply mindfulness practiced in the natural world and in connection with the natural world induced by nature practiced in nature. Yeah, so it's really just a way of saying we're talking about mindfulness, but we're talking about not the kind that you get when you sit on a cushion, but actually the kind that you practice in the natural world, totally get it. Do you do you meditate as well? You know, gosh, I off and on. I have, I liked the idea of meditation. I think it's such a beautiful calming practice. I love it. When I see pictures of people meditating, you know, online, I think that's a beautiful, I bought from a beautiful website, I bought a beautiful meditation cushion that I really, really love. And it's beautiful decoration for my office. It sits on my dog sits on it. Oh, my cat does as well. My cat will sit on it and we laugh we say oh, the cat is meditating, the dog is meditating. Alex doesn't meditate all that much. Most of my, my meditation, my contemplation and my mindfulness time is actually in the outdoors. But I do occasionally sit on my cushion, especially if it is you know, inclement outside. And I'm just not inspired to go be outside I do occasionally. Occasionally do that but I kind of just get antsy I get itchy and

can't sit still you know, I have a hard time sitting still I can't my hips are kind of uncomfortable and I have to keep sort of shifting my butt around and then I get worried that the doorbell is gonna ring or not comes no longer present. Exactly. So I find it kind of hard to be to be present as you need to be. You know when I when I'm just sitting like that. So this is sort of my mindful walking practice is sort of my answer to meditation, but they can absolutely, you know, be practiced in conjunction with each other. It's not either or, you know, and many of the many of my students and clients who enjoy mindful walking are Also great meditators and big fans of men, do you do you manage them, ie a little bit like you, I've had troubles in the past really being still. And I found that my walking in nature was my form of meditation. However, since I've started doing this daily routine of walking in nature, I have found meditation easier. And I can find that stillness, a lot easier than I used to. And I'm just curious if you've had a similar experience, because of all the walking in nature that you do. Well, I definitely know I am calmer inside, I am quieter inside, I am more mindful in all aspects of my life, I am a better parent, I am a better wife, I am a nicer person overall. And I, I am able to definitely be more contemplative in my life. And, and slow down a little bit, when I need to slow my head, you know, I'm being more present, as we talked about for everything that I'm doing, including the people that I'm with. However, I haven't really applied that much to sitting in meditation to doing a seated meditation. I, you know, I would say that it has impacted my yoga practice positively because I do do yoga, and I am much more able to be present in my body when I'm doing my yoga than I used to be. Yeah, yeah. I feel the same way. I'm so curious about something you just said. Basically, you said you're you feel like you're a better human being because of your your walking in nature. What's the connection? Well, how has that time in nature made you a better mother and and person overall? Yeah. And by the way, I totally agree with I feel the same way. I'm just curious about Yeah, no, no, I want to I need to, I need to get quiet for a moment. And give some thought to that. Because it's a deep question, it's a big question. Part of it is definitely the component of becoming more mindful. And paying, being able to pay deeper attention. And that applies to paying attention to the things that are external to us, but also paying attention to ourselves internally, right. So spending time in nature and being and walking in the natural world, helps you connect with the world around you, but also with your own self with your own spirit. And maybe you would say, your, your higher self, you know, in my case, I feel like it connects me with the divine, I believe in God. And I believe that being in that space, and being in a natural setting, and being quiet, connects me to God as well and connects me to my own divine nature and that, that, that point at which, you know, my, my higher self meets the divine, and that has informed my life in positive ways. I think when we are more in touch with the, with the bigger, the bigger, the bigger spirit, you know, the wider thing, whatever you call that, if it's universe or higher self or spirit that informs our lives in positive ways, and gives us perspective that we often don't have when we are stuck in our smaller self, you know. And so when I am in that place, I am more able to see the people around me with love with patients, with kindness, with compassion. And actually there has been research, if you can believe it on the fact that being mindful in nature, mind mindfully walking increases compassion. It was I don't want to quote this wrong. So if I can find that study, I will share that with you can share it with your listeners, but it was conducted, I believe, by some monks. And it was a fairly big study, and and they tested people's I'm not sure how they did it, but their level of compassion, you know, prior to being in nature and after being in nature, and it does, you know, make us more compassionate. I'm not sure if that's, if that is a clear enough answer. And I'm not 100% sure that anyone could answer that really effectively because I'm not sure we 100% No, I think you did a beautiful job of answering that. I loved a lot of what you have said and it resonates with me personally, and confirms my own experience. When I first started walking in nature, it was not for anything other than to ease my stress because I was massively. And there was just so much anxiety that was happening in here. And my, my business coach actually was the woman who challenged me to spend a bit of time every day in nature. And I'm, and I've shared this on the show before I'm just like, my business coach tells her client to go into into for all my clients accept me to know because I've learned from experience. So when I went into nature it was to was to calm myself down. So I can have the clarity to figure out how to move forward with stuff that was the intention of going into nature, what came from that whole experience, in addition to calming my anxiety, and finding the clarity, I needed to make the decisions to confidently move forward, which is huge in itself. Oh my gosh, yes. I fell in love with the person I am. And that has been and I didn't see it, I didn't even recognize it at the time until probably probably a couple years later, when I reflected on the woman I've changed into and it's it's largely because of getting mindful and having that connection with self, that connection to my higher self, which as you so beautifully expressed is part of the the greater the spirit source God to me, it's God as well. And having that deepened connection with God, it was also the recognition that in nature, you know, it's it's so beautiful in its imperfection. Like it's not, it's not perfect. And it's so incredibly beautiful. And I started to recognize the beauty of who I am in my imperfections. So, yes, it's pretty amazing. So now, because of all of that, like you, I feel compelled and driven to encourage people to invest time every day. And nature has so much more than just calm you down. So much more.

Yes, yes. And I think it's one of those things where you can hear people talk about it, and you can kind of, you know, have a conception of it in your head, but until you are out there and actually experience it and as you say, experience it regularly because it took you a while to kind of get to really get a tap into the real meat of this and you can't really you don't really get it until you do it. And then once you do it, once you once you begin to experience these these benefits in your life and your body and your mind and your spirit. It's like a snowball rolling downhill you know, you just you want to do it more and because you know how much that helps you. I love that what you said about recognizing our own imperfection and how nature, the beauty of ourselves in our imperfection, just like a nature and it's something that I I point out to people we tend to be so critical of ourselves, you know, we expect this perfection of ourselves physically, mentally, we expect ourselves to be a model of who we think we you know, we have this idea, but you know, I tell people you never look at a tree right and say that tree is not tall enough. Right? I mean, you never say that flower is too yellow, right like that, that you know Bush is is not bushy enough I mean you you just don't you you're just like there's a bush it is what it is right there's a tree it is as tall as it is there is a flower, it is the color that it is. And we but we don't really apply that to ourselves regularly the way we probably should like there's an Alex she is what she is. This is how she's showing up today. This is how she looks this is how she feels she is who she is the way she was created. And she is enough you know, as as I am and as you are. That's another thing I think that helps us to be more compassionate, kinder and more loving to others because when we embrace that idea when we really get that then it's it's so much easier to just look at others and see see their beauty in their imperfection and not be so annoyed. You know if your husband doesn't load the dishwasher right or so you just have a little bit more compassion for you know, everybody in your life. I find it it's much easier fear for me to be totally. And I believe that our ability to love and be compassionate with others, etc, is limited by our ability to love ourselves. So if if we are Said another way, the more we love ourselves the greater capacity we have to love others and be kind to others. So it always starts with self and being in nature can nurture that love. Indeed, yeah. So that leads me to another question I wanted to ask you, how would you recommend for somebody to get started with a mindful walking practice? A will, I have some resources on my site, I can some free a free one great thing is I have a little 10 minute one that guides a person through it. Normally, I would not recommend that you when you are learning to be a mindful Walker, and you want to apply this in your life. As I said before, you don't want to be listening to somebody, right you don't want to be it's not that it's not that kind of thing. You it's a, it's something you do in your own mind and body. But it can be helpful to have a guide in the beginning kind of just walk you through it. So I have that resource on my site. And we can point to that. But really, it's so it's, I almost feel embarrassed at how simple it is, when I first started talking about this, I thought are people gonna laugh at me, because I'm just telling them to go outside and take a walk like is that silly, because it's so simple. And everybody knows how to walk, right, and everybody knows, you know, has some outside space they can walk in. But as we've talked about, it's a simple practice with profound implications and potentially profound effects. So to get started, you need an outdoor space of any kind. And this is very important. And I make a big point of this in all of my work in my walk the year program and the things that I do with clients is that I really think it's important that people not feel like they have to travel to do this, we hear about forest bathing, and these lovely practices where you go out into nature, and you spend a few hours in a beautiful, you know, inspiring setting. And I'm all for that, and I love it. But the fact of the matter is that most of us, number one, we don't have time to do do that. And a lot of us don't have ready access to that kind of a setting, right. And so what happens is, then people just don't do it, because they're like, Well, I don't have you know, I don't have time to travel to the State Park near me and I or I don't have a state park near me or any part. So I'm really big on encouraging people to find a space to stroll or wander right where they are. And so if that is in a suburban setting, like I live in a neighborhood, if it's even in an urban setting, the evidence is clear. If we can see anything natural, any tree grass in the sidewalk, bushes, blue sky, clouds of bird, any of those things actually help impact our brains in a positive way. So any outdoor space, you need about 10 minutes more if you have it, but 10 minutes is sort of the magical point at which all of these good benefits start to begin to kick in lower blood pressure, lower stress, lower cortisol levels, higher endorphins, you know, good things, good things go up and bad things go down at about the 10 minute mark. And then you just want to walk take your earbuds out and be quiet and stroll and look around. And if it's new to you, you probably at about five minutes or so you're gonna start to get a little bored because that is the point at which you know, your brain is going what what is going on here. I'm not being stimulated, I know sending anything I'm not looking at anything like what well, okay, that is the point at which you, you begin to you let your brain look at stuff around you and there's an actual term for this called soft fascination. I love this idea. Soft fascination is what happens when we are in nature and we allow ourselves to begin to pay attention to the things that are in nature. And they are our brains. I mean surprise, our brains are actually wired to be fascinated by the things in nature to tune in to things like birdsong and the feel of the breeze and the the As the light coming through the trees, we actually our brains like that. And if you take half a minute to get away from your screen off your phone, take out the earbuds, you can actually begin to feel that, that your brain is like, Ooh, you don't get it. It's it's a, it's an actual effect that happens, this soft fascination. And it's things that are. I mean, they call them soft, you know, like bird sound, and the feel of the breeze and the look of the trees and the dappled sunlight. And they're soft, kind of, because they don't require a lot of brain power. But at the same time, we are also drawn to them, we're also fascinated by them. So that's the difference between, say, walking in circles in a empty room, and being in the outdoors, where your brain actually can get the stimulation that it craves, but in a softer way. And this is actually a wonderful antidote to attention fatigue, which is something that most of us in the modern world are suffering from, to some degree because our attention is so often pulled in. You know, it's really in different directions. So, yeah, so you get out there you walk, and you allow yourself to be softly fascinated. Yeah, beautiful. I've never heard that term, soft fascination before and it makes sense I like I like that I'm probably going to adopt that description.

What I tell my clients to do and what I lead when I do my my retreats, which includes a silent walking meditation through the forest, I asked my clients to get really present in the moment by using all of their senses by being very just noticing and aware, aware of everything to the point where you know, break off a piece of pine needles, wash it in your hands and and absorb that fragrance. For me that just drops me in my body instantly when I have that strong sense of smell. And to feel the breeze on your skin or the warmth of the sun and how many different bird sounds can you pick up and, and stop and just touch the tree and feel the bark or the moss on the tree and all these using all of our senses, which is part of that soft fascination to get grounded and present. So interesting. I love it. I love we're doing the same work and using different Yes, yes, exactly. Which is why you were such a perfect fit for the symposium. Awesome. So what do you recommend when the weather is not so great to get out for a walk? I know here like I live on the West Coast and sometimes it's like torrential rain that's coming down. I have to really I have to really work to push myself out the door. But what do you recommend? Well, I recommend sucking it up. Suck it up buttercup and get your your one recommendation honestly because I am okay I've lived in South Dakota friends and it gets pretty flippin cold there and I so I know what inclement weather is okay, I know what really bitter cold is. I live in North Carolina now so I know what really freakin hot is. And okay, that said I mean I'm being a little tongue in cheek. Most of the time. Most conditions are definitely walkable for at least 10 minutes. So you know, I tell people because because and you've I'm sure experienced this, when it is for instance, raining a little bit okay, not necessarily a torrential downpour. But when it is raining a little, you see things that you would not normally see right? You notice things, air smells different. You have that Petra course smell, there's there's different smells, there are different sites, there are different things to notice. So the world changes in beautiful ways. And because 93% of our lives now are spent indoors that's an EPA figure. Including childhood so most of us spend more time outside in childhood, right but but for your whole life, about 93% is spent indoors. We are missing these things so often because because we only want to go out when it's just you know, between 75 and 80 degrees or 70 at 80 degrees and it's just you know, Sunny. So I would encourage you to not think in terms of the weather is not conducive to walking but think How can I make it comfortable and possible for me to still walk today? Do I need an umbrella? Do I need a pair of rain boots? Do I need a thicker coat 20 You know, a hat and a scarf pair, a pair of mittens. These are very, very small, simple adjustments that we can make to increase our comfort so that we are able to actually get out there. And as I said about the rain, the same is true with snow. Oh, my goodness, walking outside, when it is snowing is absolutely magical. Right. So I don't want anybody know, look, I'm not advocating that you go out in a blizzard right and get lost in a snowstorm for heaven's sakes, like don't be silly and, and don't do dangerous things. But if it is possible to get out there, if it's snowing lightly, and you can just take a lap around your house, you're going to be things that you would ordinarily miss and it's magical. Five minutes out there and you come back and you're like, Whoa, that that was cool. You know, and something I would have missed had I not pushed myself a little bit. Absolutely. Now do you? Obviously walking is brilliant. There's so many benefits in the physical act of walking. What about just sitting on your deck and taking it environment or if it's like really miserable taking 10 minutes and sitting by a window and and absorbing it? That's exactly what I was. Yeah, right. Yeah. You beat me to it. But yes. Yes, no, absolutely. That sitting by a window. We know that even just looking out a window has beneficial effects. There was a study about surgery patients a few years back that showed that the patients who recovered in rooms that had a view work got out of the hospital couple of days sooner than the people who recovered in rooms that had a view of a wall. We know that looking outside has beneficial effects. Looking at a picture of a landscape actually is calming to the mind. But you can do things like Yes, sit on your deck, sit on your patio, sit under an umbrella, commune with a houseplant. Okay, I have houseplants all around me. And plant just looking gazing at your plant for a few minutes, petting your cat or dog. All of these things are connecting you connected to nature connecting you to other living things without your having to go outside. And they all can have beneficial effects on your brand and your body. Awesome. Yeah, I love that. One of the things that I just to add to all of what you're saying when the weather is really crappy, like when we get that torrential downpour here and I still forced myself out the door because I know I'm gonna love it. And not only do I actually love it, I feel accomplished. What a silly thing. But I feel like Ooh, look at me getting out. And a little pat on the back for you know committing for myself. Oh, right. Good for you. Good for you, girl. That is That is awesome. And you're absolutely right about that. You're like I did it. Everybody else was sitting inside, but I went out. I somehow feel more special because I'm right, anything we can do to make ourselves feel a little special. That added benefit, right? Exactly. All right. My last question for you. You talk about how mindful nature connection is a catalyst for environmental change. And I'd like you to explain that a little bit. Well, when we are connected to something, we are more inclined to love it, to protect it, to care about it. Right? So this whole process that we're talking about this going out and walking in the natural world, makes us feel more connected to nature. That's the whole point because the connection is where that those benefits come from. Right. So the more time that we can spend being connected to the natural world experiencing that soft fascination paying attention to the trees and the bushes and the nature around us. The we our our love for that nature and for the planet as a whole increases, it grows and we begin to see the world in a different way and see it as a living organism almost that needs that needs protection and that needs love and that needs to be cherished and cared for. And so what I often find is that not only does this practice lead to people taking better care of themselves, drinking more Water eating better, you know, doing all these little can be a catalyst for caring for ourselves more, but it can also be a catalyst for things like maybe you're inspired to plant a tree, you know, maybe you're inspired to start composting. Maybe you see, you know, a need in the, in the nature around you in the in, you see that this bush that's been neglected for a while, could use a little trim up, you know, and we just begin to sort of feel a little more connected to the natural world in a way that we don't necessarily when we're inside, all the time. And so I do think that being in nature and feeling that connection more regularly, helps us to appreciate the planet appreciate our Mother Earth in ways that we really can't. Otherwise. Yeah, absolutely. Beautifully said. Alex, thank you so much for your insights. If this was fun, it was just great. Oh, my gosh, somebody that just shares and also giving me some other ways and perspectives to look about look at and talk about nature with my clients. So I appreciate all that you brought to the table. If somebody wanted to reach out and connect with you directly. What's the best way for them to do that?