Have you ever tried Rolling Down a Hill? If you choose your hill correctly its a great experience for just letting go. Most of us have had phases of life where the world seems just a little bit overwhelming. These are the moments when we just need to let go of everything, just for a minute. Shake it off.
Where do you go, when it seems your whole world is going ... down hill.
I used to go hiking pretty regularly and in the spring time one of my hiking spots had beautiful rolling green hills. Hiking in itself is an excellent stress reliever and mood changer. Just hanging out on a bluff with the cold wind in your face changes a person's view of the world.
I don’t remember exactly what moved me this one day to go a rolling. But I decide to try it.
I walked the area first to make sure it was clear of rocky outcrops. It wasn’t too steep and it wasn’t toooo far to the landing spot.
It was a cold spring day so I had on long pants, coat , boots. I just did it. It was awesome.
Now, having had the experience myself and knowing the inner exhilaration of release, I kept this tool in my pocket. At the time I worked as an experiential education leader for a homeschool program. We had great adventures taking kids on learning experiences through travel, historical places, theater, nature, and getting outside.
For a brief period I was allowed to work with kids who were in juvenile hall. I tried to get them outside too, outside the box of the institutional system.
I connected with a particular boy, young man, teenager- he was all of these. I don’t know his back story, but I knew he had a lot of pent up processing. We could walk together the distance of parking lots from one institutional building to another. That was it. He could release a few tears while we chatted and sat on a curb in a parking lot. But that was the all.
But I would hike with other kids, homeschool kids who were freer to experience being and learning in ways that suited tthe individual personality. It wasn’t always a perfect schooling, but it was usually far more personal.
I once helped out a teacher with one of the his students who was 'going down hill’ . He didn’t actually know I would take him down the hill literally, and walk him back up a different path. It was Fun.
To see someone’s face when they actually step out of a box and get free is always FUN.
The hill rolling is not a cure for serious problems, but it is a remedy for a bad day. It takes time and determination to walk through situations that need changing. But perspective and perseverence can be assisted by a little physical acting out of the uphill and downhill dramas.
Its easiest to just stay inside our little boxes and think of things like rolling down a hill as ridiculous. I think actually stepping out of the box for the first time is the hardest. You just gotta do it.
Getting out in a safe and exhilarating place to experience only yourself, only your real and unique self, in a world without walls is a literal break through for many of us.
Another time I was driving home from a school trip with one of the teachers. We ironically had been to John Muir’s historic home which is located in the San Francisco Bay Area. There was some challenging thing going on in life at that time, tough changes were afoot. We were talking about it as we sat in the car rolling down the freeway. We were driving through this rural area between the cities where cows grazed on the grassy green hills. Ah! You guessed it. I wasn’t driving, so I said- “Pull Over!” Stop, I need to get out.
We parked on the shoulder of the freeway. I climbed through fencing, said hello to the cows and ran up the hill. My friend just looked at me. “What Are You Doing!! " Worried we would get in trouble?, Trespassing?, Get dirty? I said it would just take a second, but I was going to roll down the hill. “You’re crazy” he yelled at me, and then followed me up the hill. We both rolled down, got back in the car, and laughed and laughed. Game changer.
I am sure John Muir understood and was pleased .
I read one of John Muir's own stories of tying himself to a tree branch in Yosemite to ride the wind.
EXPLORE MORE
John Muir National Historic Site
Aaasss Yoooou Wishhhhh
You know the scene in the iconic movie Princess Bride when Buttercup pushes the Dread Pirate Robert -aka Wesley-, and he goes rolling down the hill?
Buttercup and Wesley rolling down the hill- YouTube
