Tips & Advice

Get Tips and Advice from the guides at Mountain Trek. Nutrition, Hiking, Sleep, Detox and Fitness are just some of the topics we cover.

How to prevent coronavirus when traveling

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Woman traveller looking at plane

With the spread of the coronavirus, otherwise known as COVID-19, travel can be a bit scary right now. Many people are smartly reconsidering their plans to highly infected areas like China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, Spain and France but does this mean you should cancel your trip to other countries? We have assessed the situation, getting numerous opinions from doctors and virologists and while the fear of catching the virus when traveling to your destination is justified—afterall, the coronavirus is on a path to becoming a pandemic and should be taken very seriously—we feel that you can still travel safely and prevent being infected with coronavirus, if you follow our tips.

What is coronavirus and how do I get infected?

First, let’s do our best to understand the virus.

This virus is spread in large droplets by an infected person coughing or sneezing. This virus only has cell receptors for lung cells so a healthy person needs to get these droplets into their respiratory system via the nose or mouth to get infected. These large droplets do not suspend in air, which means that the air around us is not infectious, but rather, all the surfaces where these droplets land and sit for about a week on average. You will not be infected by the air you breath unless your unprotected face is directly coughed or sneezed on. Airplanes use high-quality filters when recirculating air that catches these large droplets, so it really is the surfaces we touch and the subsequent contact with our nose and mouth that is the issue.

How to prevent coronavirus when traveling

  • Most importantly, avoid touching your nose and mouth. This is easier said than done—we touch our face on average 90x/day. Wear a mask to prevent yourself from touching your face. The mask will not prevent the virus from getting into your nose or mouth if someone sneezes or coughs on you—it is only to keep you from touching your nose or mouth.
  • Disinfect all potentially contaminated areas with alcohol based wipes (at least 60% alcohol) before use. For extra precaution, use latex or nitrile disposable gloves when disinfecting and then dispose properly. Disinfect airplane armrests, tray tables, entertainment systems, and seatbelts when taking your seat.
  • Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer after touching anything public; door handles, faucets, luggage carts, and counters.
  • Avoid close contact with people who are coughing or noticeably sick.
  • Use your hands as little as possible, giving fistbumps instead of handshakes, using only your knuckle to touch light switches and buttons, and using your hip or closed fist to open doors.
  • Carry zinc lozenges. These lozenges have been proven to be effective in blocking coronavirus (and most other viruses) from multiplying in our throat and nasopharynx. Use as directed several times each day when you begin to feel ANY “cold-like” symptoms beginning. It is best to lie down and let the lozenge dissolve in the back of your throat and nasopharynx. Cold-Eeze lozenges is one brand available, but there are other brands.

Remain vigilant when at your destination

If you follow the steps above, you should be able to travel to your destination safely. However, coronavirus prevention shouldn’t stop there—remain vigilant after arriving. Wash your hands as frequently as possible and use hand sanitizer when soap and water are not available. Do your best to not touch your face, especially your nose and mouth. Sanitize the door knobs, switches, and remote controls in your hotel room, and continue to avoid close contact with people who are coughing or noticable sick.

Before traveling, ensure you have medical insurance coverage either through your current insurance provider or a 3rd party travel insurance provider. If you do become ill while traveling, seek medical care immediately.

How to stop the spread of coronavirus

To prevent the spread, please do your part. If possible, cough or sneeze into a disposable tissue and discard. Use your elbow only if you have to. The clothing on your elbow will contain the infectious virus and can be passed on for up to a week or more.

We are hosting two Adventure Treks, where we blend health, hiking, and culture into one unforgettable vacation, to New Zealand and Bhutan in March and April, and we have shared the above with our guests on how to travel safely. We hope it helps you as well.

What is Mountain Trek?

Mountain Trek is the health reset you’ve been looking for. Our award-winning retreat, immersed in the lush nature of British Columbia, will help you unplug, recharge, and roll back years of stress and overworking. To learn more about the retreat, and how we can help you reset your health, please email us at info@mountaintrek.com or reach out below:

If You Own A Smartphone, You Need A Mental Health Retreat ASAP

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a woman Relaxing, sitting overlooking a lake and mountains

Mental health is a trending topic and for good reason. 1 in every 13 humans worldwide suffers from anxiety, a rate that is even higher in the US (1 in every 5 people). Depression rates have increased 18.4% between 2005 and 2015. Somewhere in the world, a person dies by suicide every 40 seconds. Studies show that for every death by suicide, there are approximately 20 other attempts. 

Seeing a therapist has become as common as going to the dentist, and a study by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America found that around 40 million adults in the United States admit to having anxiety. For perspective, that’s basically everyone living in California, or more than the entire population of Canada. These figures don’t even include those who don’t realize they are suffering from depression, stress, or anxiety, meaning the percentage is actually higher. 

It’s a scary time for mental health. But finally, society is opening a dialogue about why everyone feels as if they are falling apart, and what can be done to help. Mental health is losing its taboo-ness.

Smartphone Use Leads To Pessimism

Let’s get to the bottom of what’s tampering with our wellbeing. What has led us to our current mental health situation? Why are depression and anxiety increasing? There is certainly a lot of depressing news about the coronavirus, toxic air, deforestation, global warming, garbage-filled oceans, hunger, racism, sexism, bigotry, and the list drags on. But that’s not what’s causing our depression. Genocide, natural disasters, and epidemics have always occurred. The difference today is our awareness. Thanks to our smartphones, we are constantly connected. And while having easy access to information 24/7 has its perks, it comes with seriously consequential downsides.

Hearing about all the bad things happening worldwide every time you open your phone creates a “sky is falling” mentality. You start to focus on disheartening events, and the weight of the world’s problems weighs on your mind ‘round the clock. The result isn’t just that you trend pessimistic, it’s that pessimism compromises your stress-management capabilities.

First, pessimists naturally dwell on stressful or negative events longer than optimists. This means your stress hormone—cortisol—levels are elevated for longer. Over-exposure to cortisol has been linked to anxiety, depression, metabolic issues, heart disease, poor sleep, and weight gain, as well as memory and concentration impairment.

Second, optimistic people have been proven to be more active, eat more healthfully, and they don’t typically turn to excessive alcohol or drug use to get their kicks.

This doesn’t mean you should be like an ostrich, burying your head in the sand, believing unseen danger is no danger at all; rather, it’s important to learn healthy ways to cope with life’s stressors.

The positive thinking that usually comes with optimism is a key part of effective stress management.Mayo Clinic

Social Media Increases Our Anxiety

Beyond the exhausting stream of negative news, social media is proving to be a menacing opponent to our mental health. It’s the perfect landscape for our insecurities and self-criticism to proliferate. Whenever we log into social media we see “perfect” people who make us doubt our self-worth. I need to be as skinny, or as muscular; I should make more money; I need to find a way to afford expensive, trendy clothes; my job isn’t good enough; I’m not as adventurous; I ought to travel more; I must experience more; I need to be more.

Incessantly comparing ourselves to a seemingly fabricated reality quickly takes a toll on our wellbeing. We spend more time worrying about what we are not, rather than becoming who we should be, and our anxiety spikes.

The depressing news we receive daily combined with our need to succeed and the constant comparison game we play on social media is a recipe for anxiety. Phones keep us always “on,” prohibiting us from truly breaking away as we constantly search for the instant gratification technology brings, instead of slowing down and relaxing. We are attached to technology instead of to ourselves and our surroundings, and that allows physical and mental toxicity to thrive.

We Need To Regain Balance In Our Mental Health

So what about today’s environment makes it so toxic? In short, we’re out of balance. Everyone is hyper-focused on career and personal success. We’ve stopped treating our mind, body, and spirit respectfully. 

Popular belief these days is that you have to be the hardest worker, dedicating every spare moment to your work in order to be successful. Taking the time to eat a wholesome meal or get a full night’s sleep somehow equates to not working hard enough. Pushing your body to breaking point has become like a badge of honor. Just read interviews with high-profile business people or celebrities. Chances are they’ll boast about their long work hours, lack of time to eat or sleep, and how they prioritize their career and image above all else.

But failing to give yourself time to rest and recharge isn’t something to brag about, because really you’re functioning at a small percentage of your full potential. Crazy as this may sound, by allowing yourself to properly sleep and eat healthfully, you’ll be able to get more done. How? It all comes down to having more energy and being more alert. And that’s not all, once you stop comparing yourself to other people, you’ll be able to focus on reconnecting with yourself instead.

Forget “Likes”. Be Real.

Do you remember what it was like before social media and smartphones? Back then, mornings started out by getting ready for your day. Nowadays, the first thing most of us do when the alarm sounds is to check our phone and tap into social media. Essentially, we’re comparing ourselves to others–and consequently feeling inadequate–before we even have a chance to put our slippers on. 

Instagram’s test in removing “likes” is a step in the right direction. In a recent press conference, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri stated, “The idea is to try and depressurize Instagram, to make it less of a competition, and give people more space to focus on connecting with the people they love and the things that inspire them.”

The hope is that removing “likes” will help users stop comparing themselves to others, thus removing the stress of being “good enough” or as liked as everyone else. This comparison game is causing many people to feel as if their anxiety is spinning out of control, but few people actually stop long enough to address the cause of the decline in their mental health and wellbeing.

Put Down The Phone

The good news is it’s not hopeless. Just because the odds seem stacked against us doesn’t mean we are helpless. We can do many things on our own to help break the trance of our phones (read our recent article on how to do a digital detox). For instance:

  • Immerse in nature (aka “Forest bathing”). Even just spending 20 minutes a day in nature has been proven to help lower stress and anxiety, decrease blood pressure, lower your heart rate, and decrease your chances of developing a psychiatric disorder.
  • Read a novel. Find a comfy chair and put your phone on silent. You might find you can go more than two paragraphs without getting distracted when it’s just you and a good story.
  • Learn a new hobby. The practice of learning something new is extremely beneficial for our brain health.
  • Take a bath. Alone, without your phone. Light candles and watch them dance instead.
  • Exercise
  • Do yoga
  • Eat healthful foods. Pay attention to the flavors as they hit different parts of your tongue.
  • Connect with other humans
  • Volunteer
  • Pet an animal
  • Take a vacation
  • Visit a spa
  • Meditate. The use of meditation apps in adults in the US has increased from 4.1% in 2012 to 14.2% in 2018. Are you part of that statistic?

…this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Don’t Do It Alone. Try A Health Retreat.

If you are feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where to start, or perhaps don’t have the time or energy to get things back on track yourself, check out a wellness retreat that incorporates mental health practices.

Mental health retreats are a great place to start—you’ll be surrounded by people who are in the same boat as you and having support from a team of professionals will ensure you stay on track.

Health retreats will actually help you break toxic habits and provide you with long term solutions for living a balanced life, but in case you are thinking they just aren’t for you, I’m here to tell you they are. Why? Because they aren’t one-size-fits-all.

There are many different types of mental health retreats available to suit various needs and interests. Some retreats focus on eastern healing practices, like yoga and meditation, while others focus purely on self-care (think spa: mud baths, steam rooms, massage, etc.). Some are open to everyone while others are gender-specific. Others are centered around particular activities, such as farming, clean-eating, creativity, or hiking. Many retreats emphasize connecting with nature, but for all the indoors-personalities, others don’t. 

And while the word “retreat” might make it sound like something only possible for wealthy people with unlimited days off from work, there are actually retreats available at any budget, for any length of time, and for any lifestyle choice. Finding a place to unplug and reset is more attainable than it seems.

Mental Health Retreats Are About More Than Just Relaxing

While visiting any mental health or wellness retreat will do wonders for your wellbeing, starting off with one that combines many aspects of your health might be the best choice. Such retreats, like Mountain Trek, are holistic health retreats that focus on five areas of health in harmony: fitness, nutrition, stress management, sleep, and detoxification. Combining these five areas has a profound effect on your health and wellbeing, laying the groundwork to reduce social anxiety, decrease depression, and relieve stress in your life back at home.

Instead of focusing on just one area of your life, these types of holistic health retreats address each of these key areas in equal turn. After all, each one plays a role in our wellbeing and are all equally affected by the toxicity of modern society. 

For example, fixing your diet is a great place to start and will make you feel better, but if your stress levels are still sky-high your life will still feel toxic and unbalanced. This is why a wellness retreat like Mountain Trek is an ideal choice to get you started on your journey to a detoxified life. Every detail of your stay there is planned and prepared for you–all you have to do is focus on being present in the moment. It takes the guesswork out of trying to learn how to detox on your own.

A visit to a mental health retreat is about more than just relaxing–it’s about changing your life and giving you the tools you need so you can continue to reap the benefits long after you’ve returned home.

Prevent Burnout. Invest In Longevity.

You can only push yourself so hard before burning out. Between the go go go attitude of modern society, the negativity surrounding us worldwide, and the constant need to compare ourselves to each other, it’s no wonder our mental health is in a state of decline.

Our way of life isn’t sustainable; we need to reset our bodies and minds, beginning with purging toxic thoughts and habits. Taking time for yourself shouldn’t be viewed as a treat, but rather as a necessity. We need to take care of our bodies and souls if we want to be able to function at our best without breaking down. We only get one body, after all. Show yourself some respect and tackle the issue before it gets worse!

Visiting a mental health retreat will teach you the skills you need in order to reset and recharge by helping you cultivate valuable practices you can continue back at home. It’ll jumpstart the process and be the catalyst for changing your life and living a healthier lifestyle, both mentally and physically. There’s never been a better time than now to unplug and reconnect!

What is Mountain Trek?

Mountain Trek is the health reset you’ve been looking for. Our award-winning health retreat, immersed in the lush nature of British Columbia, will help you detox, unplug, recharge, and roll back years of stress and unhealthy habits. To learn more about the retreat, and how we can help you reset your health, please email us at info@mountaintrek.com or reach out below:

 

Guide To Hiking The Blue Ridge Appalachian Mountains

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If you’re unable to join us for one of our health retreats to the Appalachian Mountains, where we hike the best trails of the Blue Ridge mountain range, eat light, healthy cuisine, and rejuvenate at night at the spa, we’ve created a guide to help you explore the area for yourself. In the guide, you will learn:

  • Where to Stay
  • How to Travel to the Blue Ridge Area
  • The 6 Best Hikes in The Blue Ridge Mountain Range
  • What else to do in the Asheville, NC and Greenville, SC area

We hope the guide helps pique your curiosity about the area, about hiking, and about living a balanced, healthy life.

Mountain Trek’s Guide To The Blue Ridge Mountains

What is Mountain Trek?

Mountain Trek is the health reset you’ve been looking for. Our award-winning hiking-based health retreat, immersed in the lush nature of British Columbia, will help you detox, unplug, recharge, and roll back years of stress and unhealthy habits. To learn more about the retreat, and how we can help you reset your health, please email us at info@mountaintrek.com or reach out below:

Accomplish your goals with “20 for 20”

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When was the last time you read 20 pages without getting distracted? Or listened to your favorite music album for 20 minutes without feeling the need to do something else at the same time? When was the last time you went 20 days without having a glass of wine after work to help you unwind? Or had 20 seconds without a thought racing through your mind?

2020 is not just a new year, it’s a new decade. The perfect time to take a step back, refocus, and reset. But that doesn’t mean we will magically accomplish all of our goals. In fact, 92% of all goals fail. So no matter how clean a reset this decade is, we still need a lot of help accomplishing our goals. This year, we’ve come up with a framework to help you do just that:

“20 for 20”

Simply put, whatever goal you set this year, make it 20 something—seconds, reps, days, you get the gist. This framework is easy to remember, makes a lot of sense, and lets you get creative—a potent combination for success.

20 for 20 is memorable

Who can’t remember 20 for 20? How about 20/20 vision? How about the fact that this year is “20”-”20”? Definitely helps. So right off the bat, this framework is more likely to lead to success, simply because it’s memorable. That’s massive when it comes to succeeding as your goal will be front of mind more of the time. This will result in more awareness and therefore a greater chance for action. With enough practice, we will eventually have success.

20 for 20 is fundamentally sound

We’ve studied goal setting exhaustively over the last two decades and have learned a thing or two. First, preparation is just as important as execution. Setting the right goal is vital. Otherwise, you’re just like Sisyphus, fighting an uphill battle the entire time. One strategy we’ve seen work year after year at our award-winning health retreat is following the acronym SMART. Set your goal so it is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time anchored. The 20-for-20 framework works really well with SMART goals. 

For example, a broad goal like “practice being in the present.” Applying the 20-for-20 formula would look something like: “20 seconds of focusing on my breath.” While applying the SMART framework would improve the goal. Make your goal more specific by indicating focusing on your breathing. Measurable is the 20 seconds—we could use a watch or a phone timer. 20 seconds is so short it’s certainly attainable. Doing it every single morning? Perhaps that’s not realistic, so we should adjust a bit. Following the 20-for-20 framework, resolving to spend 20 seconds in the morning just 20 days per month might be more realistic. And to make this goal time-anchored, we need a deadline. Perhaps we start with a month. A SMART 20-for-20 goal would be resolving to “take 20 seconds each morning before waking to focus on my breath, 20 days of the next month”.

Another thing we’ve realized is that there are 5 main reasons our goals fail

  1. We have too many goals
  2. Goals are set too big (learn why micro resolutions are more effective than large goals)
  3. Our goals aren’t concrete
  4. Our goals don’t fit into our routine
  5. We don’t share our goals

Setting a SMART goal covers items two, three, and four. Making a goal attainable and realistic usually means setting a smaller goal that fits into our routine. Making your goal specific and time-anchored makes it concrete. But what about setting too many goals and not sharing them? Setting too many is easy to fix: just set one goal at a time. But what about sharing our goals? Sometimes it’s daunting to think about sharing our goals with a friend. But a small action like sharing our goal with a friend, and giving them a weekly one-sentence update, can dramatically improve our chances of success. In fact, this exact action has proven to increase the odds of success 10x! We think this small step is so powerful we’ve built a tool to facilitate it. Use our goal tracker to share your SMART goal with the Mountain Trek team and then receive a weekly email touching base and asking for your update. Simple, yet incredibly powerful.

Unleash Your Creativity with 20 for 20

The wonderful thing about 20 for 20 is that it’s just begging for creativity and personalization. The breadth of possible goals that fall under this framework allows us to customize our efforts to our personal preferences—a final, and vital component of success. Making your goal relevant to you will significantly increase your interest in following through. For example, if you’re a big tennis player, setting a 20 for 20 goal that will improve your game will be more appealing than a goal that is unrelated to your interests. You’ll be more motivated to do the work, and you will show up more of the time. You’ll dig a little deeper and work a little harder when things are tough because it matters to you. A 20-for-20 goal can and should break traditional molds. The usual resolutions of “lose weight,” “eat healthier,” “exercise more,” or “manage finances better” are so broad and boring—it’s no wonder that 92% of our resolutions fail each year. Make 2020 about getting creative.

20 for 20 Goal Ideas:

20 seconds

Take 20 seconds first thing each morning and just watch your breath. Follow it in and out, in and out, immediately upon waking. You might find that you spend longer than 20 seconds here because it’s such a nice, peaceful moment. But set your goal to do 20 seconds—that’s all it takes. 

Bonus: find 20-second moments throughout your day where you can pause, and just focus on your breath. Transition moments throughout your day are wonderful opportunities, such as getting up from your desk to go to the bathroom, getting in the car, or getting off of a phone call.

20 minutes

Give something your undivided attention for 20 minutes each day. Two great ideas are music and reading. Listen to your favorite album for 20 minutes without looking at phone notifications or checking something off of your to-do list. Turn the volume up and really sink into the music, letting go of all of the other things you need to do once you’re done. Or find a comfy chair and just read for 20 minutes. Go into it with the same intention, to unplug from the world around you.

20 days

Build a habit by doing something 20 days out of one month. We don’t have to do an action every single day to make it a habit, but we do need to create momentum in that direction. Doing something, such as waking up and immediately spending 20 seconds on your breath, 20 days out of the month, is a great step in creating a habit. It’s not shooting for perfection by doing it every day, so we have some room for error, which is inevitable and important to embrace when building a new habit. Accepting failure prevents us from catastrophically derailing the moment there’s one tiny bump in the road. Embracing failure makes us more resilient. 

Tip: put a physical calendar on your wall and put a big checkmark over the days you successfully worked on your goal. Having this physical reminder of our progress will help momentum. Also, use the calendar to plan ahead. Look for days there’s little chance you’ll be able to work towards your goal and acknowledge them. Preplanning “off” days will remove guilt and reduce your stress.

Now is your chance to reset, not just on the year, but on the entire decade. Start 2020 off on the right foot; give 20 for 20 a go!

What is Mountain Trek?

Mountain Trek is the health reset you’ve been looking for. Our award-winning health retreat, immersed in the lush nature of British Columbia, will help you detox, unplug, recharge, and roll back years of stress and unhealthy habits. To learn more about the retreat, and how we can help you reset your health, please email us at info@mountaintrek.com or reach out below:

9 Ways To Digital Detox

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I’ve recently become a parent, and because of that, I feel justified in employing scare tactics to warn you of the dangers out there in the world. I’m not talking about the man in the van who looks like a clown. I’m talking about something that Albert Einstein saw coming 70 years ago when he said, “I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction, the world will have a generation of idiots.” 

HP, the company that promises, “With our technology, you’ll reinvent your world,” just surveyed over 7,500 people in North America to learn about our relationship with technology, specifically our smartphone screens. 

What HP found in a recent study:

63% think our digital lives and real lives are out of balance.

50% of couples have used their phones to ignore each other.

65% think it’s ok to check their phone during dinner.

58% think it’s ok to check their phone on a date.

40% admit they use their phones in public to avoid talking to others.

63% believe relationships were closer in the past, and the same percentage believe relationships were more meaningful before social media.

60% wish they could return to a time before social media.

91% would rather have 1 real friend than 100 online friends.

I could shake these stats off and pretend they don’t apply to me. But HP also found that parenting has gone digital and that 1 in 3 parents spend over 5 hours daily on their phone. A stat that requires just too many exclamation points to bother entering them.

Digital Use is Leading To Addiction, Depression, Suicide

I’m worried that if the day Einstein feared isn’t already here, it’s fast approaching. Selfies are up, relationships are down. Every day it seems like there is more connection, but less connecting. Engaging with the *actual* world is becoming overwhelmingly intimidating. And while this certainly might lead to a generation of idiots, we’re now realizing that the staggering amount of time we spend staring at a screen is also leading to a generation of anxious, depressed, and lonely souls. Einstein had no idea the extent of what this technology dependence would do to our psyche. How could he? Who could have predicted that global depression rates would increase 18.4% between 2005 and 2015 and suicide rates in the US would rise 24% between 1999 and 2014? And that governments would have to step in and impose curfews on gaming for minors to prevent addiction?

Our digital habits aren’t just wreaking psychological havoc – they’re physically harmful too. Sitting 10+ hours a day in front of screens leads to chronic inflammation, which has been proven to be the cause of many serious ailments and diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and dementia. Cell phones distract drivers from red lights, stop signs, children running across the road, and ultimately cause 1.6 million car accidents in the US every year. That’s one every 20 seconds. By the time you get to the end of this paragraph, there’s a chance someone just died texting and driving. That’s not okay.

If Einstein were to see the amount of time we spend glued to our screens would he really be that shocked? Or would he just say we are all now those “idiots” he theorized we’d become? By scrolling through an endless stream of emails and social feeds, inevitably comparing our lives to the highlights of everyone else’s, obviously deteriorates us physically and spikes our social anxiety. As a new mother, I feel it’s my duty to try and change our current course so that my daughter does not fulfill Einstein’s prophecy.

Be aware of your current usage

Just like a dietary detox, the first step in digitally detoxing is awareness. For instance, if you want to lose weight you have to look at what you’re putting into your body. Garbage in = garbage out. The same goes for your relationship with your devices. 

Look at how you’re interacting with your devices by building a digital diet sheet. Record how much, how often, and when you’re on your phone, laptop, game console, or TV. Seeing those numbers will do half the detoxing work.

Tip: start with your smartphone and enable Screen Time on iOS and Digital Wellbeing on Android. These two stock features will give you a snapshot of how you currently use your smartphone. I personally like the stat about how many notifications you get each day. Each notification breaks your concentration on what you were doing, be it driving, chatting with a colleague, or playing with your child.

Most spend upwards of hours on social media weekly, let alone daily. Larry Rosen, psychology professor and author of The Distracted Mind, says “most people check their phones every 15 minutes or less, even if they have no alerts or notifications.” Don’t judge yourself. Don’t judge your numbers. Simply be aware.

Technology isn’t to be demonized by any means. It helped put a man on the moon and sequence the entire human genome. But the way it’s used today tends to keep people inside a bubble. Instead of simply inspiring or enabling us, it’s creating anxiety and tension. It needs to be rebalanced. Here are nine ways you can reprogram your relationship with technology.

Nine Ways To Digitally Detox:

 

Build “No Phone Zones” in your home

This could be the kitchen or the bedroom, places primed for human interaction and bond-building. Place baskets at the perimeters of these zones so you can physically leave your phone behind.

Set “No Technology Times” in your home

If you’re a culprit of looking at your phone before falling asleep or before your feet even touch the floor in the morning, leave it in the hallway when you go to sleep. Mountain Trek suggests stopping device-time at least one hour before bedtime to reduce blue light consumption, which is similar to the wavelength emitted by the sun and triggers our “rise and shine” cortisol stress hormone.

Let your friends and family know you’re taking a break from your phone

This way, you won’t feel anxious about people contacting you.

Turn off notifications

Notifications are the digital version of that person always bothering you. Mostly, they actually fuel potential symptoms of addiction by causing your heart rate to increase. Notifications let your phone control you, as opposed to how it should be, the other way around.

Turn on grayscale

By making your phone less desirable to look at, you’ll be less tempted to tap around on it. Here are tutorials for iOS and Android

Take distracting apps off your home screen

This way, you’ll have to intentionally seek out an app to use it, and, in doing so, you’ll cut down on the “accidental” time-sucks that happen when you mindlessly hold your phone.

Put a learning app like Duolingo or Elevate next to your social media apps, increasing your chance of skipping out on an hour-long social media binge. Learning is one of the best ways to satiate our mental needs.

Play phone Jenga

When you go to a dinner party, or at least host your own, encourage the guests to stack their phones. This way, everyone will be less inclined to look at them; you don’t want to be the one who removes your device and makes the whole stack tumble down.

Set out parameters

Don’t go all or nothing, because when you starve yourself of anything, your mind wants to go to the other extreme. Instead of deleting all your apps at the same time, try deleting Facebook first, then Instagram, and the list goes on. One habit for one day, then one week, then one month. The idea is to make your change a big priority and a small step.

The most delicious things in the world don’t taste so great after a few too many bites, and the same goes for digital consumption. But it’s hard to shake ourselves out of a stupor. It’s hard to “awake” once our brains have been habituated to scrolling on devices and apps literally engineered for addiction. Breaking the trance will be hard, but you don’t have to go at it alone. In fact, we suggest getting a friend or family member bought in on the idea as well. 

For a full digital detox, come visit us in the lush mountains of British Columbia for a week of unplugging and resetting, physically, emotionally, and digitally! 

What is Mountain Trek?

Mountain Trek is the health reset you’ve been looking for. Our award-winning health retreat, immersed in the lush nature of British Columbia, will help you detox, unplug, recharge, and roll back years of stress and unhealthy habits. To learn more about the retreat, and how we can help you reset your health, please email us at info@mountaintrek.com or reach out below:

Staff Spotlight: Krista Williams

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Krista is one of our long-time hiking guides. Here’s the scoop on how she became such a Nature Woman, Lover of The Outdoors, and why she comes back to Mountain Trek, year after year.

Becoming a parent has made me reflect on my own childhood. I grew up with parents who were very passionate about the great outdoors. My mom, being an Interpretive Naturalist, taught me to love nature, and my Dad held very strong beliefs about working in a harmonious balance with our environment. My parents were avid hikers, and, at a few months old, had me out on the trails. They even baptized me in an old growth Cedar stump.

I always say the outdoors is my religion, and a summit is my temple. There is a calmness and feeling of completeness when I’m out in the mountains, away from the hustle and bustle of urban life.

This is one of the reasons I love my job. The transformation I see in people when they are out in the wilderness, surrounded by beauty, is astounding. Helping others find themselves again makes me feel I’m absolutely doing the right thing, professionally. I feel blessed to be able to work outdoors, and blessed to have such wonderful parents who raised me to love and respect our beautiful natural world.

Two Frank Lloyd Wright quotes I live by are, “Study Nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you,” and, “The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes.”

The Amalfi Coast’s 4 Best Hikes

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Path Of The Gods Hike Amalfi Coast

First things first, when you’re hiking the Amalfi Coast, you’re not stepping on just any ordinary gravel path. Rather, you’re hiking historic trails, some of which connect charming villages, a large number of which cling to the mountains above the deep blue Mediterranean, and all of which make you want to high-five every passerby.

Hiking the Amalfi Coast epitomizes living “la dolce vita,” and while we’ve got it going on here in British Columbia with our dramatic mountains and clear lakes, there’s something truly magical about exploring Italy by foot. With a few trips under our belt and many exuberant Adventure Trekkers who attest to the Amalfi Coast’s spellbinding quality, we’re ready, nay incredibly excited, to share our favorite local hikes.

How does one even begin to whittle down the list of best hikes on the Amalfi Coast? The process was not easy–each trail deserves an honorable mention–but we managed to select just four stand-out hikes based on their views, starting and ending points, history, technicality, and duration. We considered the whole gamut. Our list has strong legs.  

Here are Mountain Trek’s 4 best hikes on the Amalfi Coast

Path of the Gods

Path of the Gods is one of the best hiking trails on the Amalfi Coast, according to Mountain Trek

In particular, hiking from Praiano to Nocelle, above Positano.  

Why Best Hike on Amalfi Coast: Outstanding views of the Mediterranean and the two Amalfi Coast towns. The Path of the Gods is a hike that recalls the incredible landscapes of Greek mythology.

Note: Because of its popularity, it can be packed with tourists, at times making it seem somewhat dangerous. It’s technical, and has lots of exposure on cliffs.

Hike Difficulty: Moderate

Elevation gain/loss: -400m/-1200ft

Distance: 8 km/5 mi.

 

Il Vallone delle Ferriere

Valle delle Ferriere Papermill Iron Foundry Hike is one of the best hiking trails on the Amalfi Coast, according to Mountain Trek

Also known as: Iron Foundry Valley or Paper Mills Valley hike.

Why Best Hike on Amalfi Coast: It starts in the quaint seaside town of Ravello, which was founded in the 5th century, and runs back into the mountains, descending to the coastal town of Amalfi. The hike follows a cascading creek, and is dotted with 12-14th century remains of iron factories and paper mills.

Note: Beautiful, tall chestnut trees and rare, long leaved ferns.

Hike Difficulty: Moderate

Elevation gain/loss: -400m/-1,200ft

Distance: 6 km/3.7 mi.

 

The Path of the Two Provinces

The Path of the Two Provinces or Santa Maria del Castello hike above Positano Amalfi Coast is one of the best hikes on the Amalfi Coast as voted by Mountain Trek

Also known as Santa Maria del Castello

Why Best Hike on Amalfi Coast: It’s the longest and steepest climb, but a favorite because it’s barely used, and has epic views of the azure blue sea far below the limestone cliffs it sits on. The trail climbs straight up the mountain above Positano for 1800’, and descends to the village of Arola, above Sorrento.

The first section of this trail has an elevation gain of about 800 meters to get to the Hamlet of Santa Maria del Castello.

Note: Allow for 5-6 hours of walking, as the path is steep and rocky in places.

Hike Difficulty: Challenging

Elevation gain/loss: +900m/2,900ft

Distance: 13.5 km/8.4 mi.

 

The Path of the Sirens

Path of the Sirenuse / Path of the Sirens is one of the best hiking trails on the Amalfi Coast, according to Mountain Trek

Why Best Hike on Amalfi Coast: It climbs through traditional garden farms growing artichokes, broccolini and olives, to a peak that gives the area’s best vantage point of the Sirens, the Greek mythological islands that housed singing divas dangerous to sailors. It is a unique walk surrounded by Mediterranean nature, rich in historical and mythological references and breathtaking views of the two gulfs (Gulf of Naples and Gulf of Salerno).

Note: The trail is a 4-hour hike that tops out in a pine forest before descending to the village of Torca.

Hike Difficulty: Easy

Elevation gain/loss: 300m/900ft

Distance: 8.5 km/5.2 mi.

Our final vote for “Bests of the Amalfi Coast” is for Lucy, the hiking guide who showed us the ropes. She is energetic, friendly, and eager to impart her knowledge of the Amalfi Coast. To add depth to your hiking experience, we recommend bringing her along for at least one of your hiking adventures.

What is Mountain Trek?

Mountain Trek is the health reset you’ve been looking for. Our award-winning health retreat, immersed in the lush nature of British Columbia, will help you detox, unplug, recharge, and roll back years of stress and unhealthy habits. To learn more about the retreat, and how we can help you reset your health, please email us at info@mountaintrek.com or reach out below:

Mountain Trek’s Morning Routine

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I see you there, scratching your head as you read, “6:15AM Smoothie + Tonic” on our schedule for every day (!) of the week at Mountain Trek. And I see you scratching even harder when you read, “6:30 AM Gentle Yoga.”

Here’s the deal with why we wake up at 6AM to drink “that stuff” within 30 minutes, and then send our bodies straight into some form of movement beyond scrolling through social media or emails. There’s a science to our program’s fine-tuned morning routine.

Request Mountain Trek White Paper

Break your fast within half an hour of getting out of bed

Mountain Trek doesn’t offer a diet; instead, our award-winning program emphasizes eating patterns. Why? this balances your blood sugar throughout the day, meaning your metabolism will work like a well-oiled machine and you will avoid energy spikes and crashes.

Eating breakfast immediately—which, at Mountain Trek, is broken into two parts, with the first part being a smoothie and tonic upon waking at 6AM—kick-starts your metabolism for the day. Also, eating within 30 minutes of waking supports your circadian rhythm, meaning you’ll sleep soundly, and it stops your liver from going into a famine response that will only hinder your ability to burn calories.

Stretch mindfully after breakfast

If you don’t keep lengthening the muscles you regenerate throughout the night, you’ll end up stiff as a board. Stretching in the morning will improve your brain activity, decrease your aches and pains, and set you up for improved energy throughout the day. If there’s one way to put a pep in your step, it’s through improving the mobility in all of your body’s main joints.   

As you stretch, focus intently on the sensation in your muscles and your breathing. Close your eyes if you need to. Hold each stretch for 5 long breaths, deepening the stretch slightly with every exhale. Start from the ground up, stretching everything from your calves to your neck muscles. If you have more time before work, attending a morning yoga class is a great way to start your day. 

To give you a little personal insight, my husband and I used to never eat breakfast or stretch before heading off to work in San Francisco. We went from bed to desk. That’s it. The bad habit existed because our far-too-late dinners meant our bodies never craved breakfast. Once we got on Mountain Trek’s schedule and started eating the appropriate-sized dinner at the right time, there was no going back.

By eating earlier in the evening, we slept better and woke up without food hangovers, and we couldn’t wait for our nourishing smoothie and tonic. We felt much more energetic and clear-minded. And, paired with the morning mindful stretch, we felt accomplished and confident for the day, before the clock even struck 7:30 AM.

Mountain Trek’s morning routine will help your body regain balance. It’ll kick you back into rhythm, and make you feel like a whole new you.

To experience the Mountain Trek morning routine yourself—to wake up after a night of deep sleep, fuel your body with organic nourishment and do sun-rise yoga overlooking a lake deep in the therapeutic wilderness of British Columbia, Canada—contact us or view program availability.  

What’s so hot about hot springs? 5 Reasons to go for a soak

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Hot springs are full-steam ahead on being the #1 luxury that vacationers prioritize when picking their holiday destination. Why? Not only are they great for post-ski socializing, they work wonders for your body, physically and mentally. Japan and Europe have known about the healing powers of hot springs for thousands of years, but Canada is also home to some of the best sources of balneotherapy–the therapeutic use of water for relieving pain, stress, skin woes and more.

Our lodge in British Columbia is fortunate enough to be located in Ainsworth, home of a large healing hot spring pool that was first visited by the Ktunaxa First Nations peoples, who recuperated in the hot water after a long day of hunting, fishing, and gathering roots and berries. Mountain Trek guests have unlimited access to this marvel of nature during their stay, and here’s why it’s important to take advantage of soaking in the hot mineral waters.

What is a hot spring?

A hot spring is an all-natural body of water that is warmed geothermally. One way to classify a hot spring is that it must be well above the temperature of the surrounding earth, and usually hot springs hover around the 100 degrees Fahrenheit mark. The temperature of a given hot spring depends on the heat supplied at depth (sometimes from a magma chamber), the rate at which the water flows, and if there is a mixture of cooler groundwater into the flow of hot water.

Where are they found?

Hot springs truly are the world’s original spa – interestingly, the term ‘spa’ originates from the town of Spa, Belgium, made famous for its hot springs. Typically, hot springs are found where there is volcanic activity or magma chambers, or where there are fault lines in the Earth.

Therapeutic Benefits

Hot springs have an especially high mineral content, because heated water can hold more dissolved solids. This means they contain everything from calcium, magnesium, silica, lithium, and even radium. In other words, they’re a multivitamin for the skin. The heat in hot springs envelopes and helps soothe aching muscles, and the minerals present in the water get soaked up by the skin, stimulating certain bodily processes.

Here’s how the combination of these minerals and the hot water help us:

Musculoskeletal problems: Documented in Chinese and Japanese history, hot springs have been used to aid with swollen joints, arthritis, muscle fatigue, ligament damage, and more.

Eczema: Chronically dry, flaky skin, otherwise known as eczema, is a skin condition that affects up to 15% of Americans and Canadians. Regularly soaking in hot springs has been found to reduce eczema itching and redness.

Nasal Congestion: The heat of the water, combined with sulphur, makes for a winning way to combat nasal congestion caused by the common cold, allergies, or even chest congestion.

Circulation: Sodium bicarbonate and calcium found in mineral hot springs help with good circulation in the body. This can have numerous positive impacts, including lowering blood pressure. The weightlessness that comes with floating in the water also helps improve circulation.

Relaxation: Never to be underestimated, is the power of de-stressing and relaxation. A stressed state can lead to all kinds of health complications, such as high blood pressure, depression, and an increase in the output of the stress hormone, cortisol. When cortisol is released in stress-induced doses, our hormones are thrown off balance, which affects our mood, immune system and metabolism. Long story short, if you’d like a faster metabolism and the ability to shed those pesky pounds, you’ve got to make sure your hormones are balanced.

In regards to the different minerals in hot springs and how they help our health, here’s the lowdown:

  • Magnesium: aids with clear complexion, and healthy-looking skin
  • Potassium: eliminates toxins and promotes healthy skin
  • Sodium: decreases inflammation in swollen joints, and can help the lymphatic system
  • Sulphur: helps with respiratory problems and skin inflammations

Don’t hesitate another moment–hurry over to a healing hot spring; the rewards you’ll reap are thoroughly worth it. Or, come visit us and use ours!