Take a hike.

This weekend I was hiking in the mountains and it struck me again what a yogic practice hiking is and how many elements of performance can be found in a simple hike.

In hiking, just like in life, you go through stages. The first part of the hike is a breeze. You are rested and relaxed, looking forward to a wonderful day. I, of course, stepped into cow shit just a few meters into the hike. What stayed on my shoe for not even a minute, will stay in my friends memory forever. First lesson in life learned. Eventually, as you hike on, you will reach the steep part. And it’s getting exhausting. Every now and then you enchant yourself with the view, the flowers and wildlife along the way. We saw Edelweiß and marmots. But every now and then you silently curse to yourself, why in god’s name you had this stupid idea to climb this stupid mountain. This, too, my friends, shall pass. You take the hike step by step by step. In performance psychology they are called process goals. You improve the routine. I entertained myself by exploring if I could climb best from my thighs, my adductors or my pelvis. So much energy going into the legs makes hiking a really grounding experience.

On our hike through the Oberbergtal we were surrounded by pretty amazing scenery. Some of it felt like from a different planet. What impressed me most were the ibexes we saw at the peak. Three of them were looking over at us. They were majestic and wild. While we were just standing there wide-eyed with dropped jaws. We must’ve looked like idiots about to take a bite from our Jausenbrot (loosely translates to snack, but a Jause is a Jause).

Just like with any performance endeavor, you hike up the mountain, because you’re expecting a reward – a spectacular view and a Jausenbrot. That’s the outcome goal. Making it – or not. Or making it in a specific time. Well, the view this weekend, was not so spectacular, because there were quite a few clouds. But as Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita: ‘Don’t become attached to the fruit of your actions‘. Sometimes life just has other things in mind. The Jause is your other reward for the hike. Curiously enough, though, it’s something you carry up the mountain and even though you think of the Jause being at the top, it’s always right there with you along the way. Kinda like enlightenment. But the Jause you can’t eat and keep it, too. Enlightenment (I think) you can. The Jause is like the safety-net reward, just in case the weather at the peak is shit… foggy.

So a hike up the mountain is really the big package. You have process and outcome goals. You also find mastery and vicarious experiences, which I didn’t get into in this post. Neither did I get into performance goals, group dynamics and anxiety (as in almost peeing your pants as you’re looking down a 200 meter drop beneath you). I’ll save it for another post.

In the end were were rewarded with sunshine, a cold beer and a delicious meal. My advice, if you want to learn about life: go, take a hike!