Mount Tolmie

Mount Tolmie Park is located on the traditional territory of the Lekwungen speaking people of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations and W̱SÁNEĆ people. 

What a day. We had just found out our practicum placements after waiting months to receive them. I was in shock with our placement, as we had requested middle school and convinced, we were getting grade 7, but we ended up with kindergarten. It was such a sunny day outside, so I decided to take my shocked self-outside of the house and go to Mount Tolmie. 

Mount Tolmie is only a 20-minute walk from my house, so it was not too far. I only had to go up and down a hill (talk about walking uphill both ways to school). Except I had totally forgot my water bottle, and was really needed it up the other hill, and was alredy regretting deciding to walk Mount Tolmie. However, when I started on the actual trail, I felt a lot better. 

By the time I reached the reached the top, I had come to terms with my placement, and definitely felt a lot better about the stress of school and life. It was so nice to lookout and see Victoria from a higher view. 

I was able to spot my old dorm building, as well as the rest of UVic, and the water where I used to stare out at from my dorm building. You could also clearly see the Mount Baker, which was really neat to see. Every time I can see the mountains and the water it reminds me of what a beautiful city I live in, and how lucky I am to go to school here.  

I spent a while up there, refreshing and decompressing, and it felt like all my worries had gone away. As I walked down the hill, I realized I had just left as the sun started setting, which kind of sucks that I missed out on sunset, but that was okay.  

I felt a big shift in my mental health after this walk, especially after spending the day so anxious and constantly refreshing my emails, to immediately feeling shocked. After, I felt relieved and relaxed, and there was no mental stress on my plate anymore. 

Stress and Sleep Levels 

My activity score,  

My steps of the day (I normally range around 10,000 steps a day)

My daytime stress levels 

As you can see, I spent alot of the day stressing and in a state of high anxiety. I felt it both physically and mentally throughout the day.  

My sleep score after walking Mount Tolmie 

Compared to my other sleeps, it is great improvement. After spending the whole day stressing, I fell asleep fast, and it was a well needed sleep.  

My readiness score for the next day. 

As my app told me, my sleep schedule is inconsistent, which plays a role in how I feel the next day. I often find myself unable to sleep, then waking up early for school the next day. I try to sleep early, however I find it impossible most days, as you can see reading through my reflections and sleep scores.  

After this time in nature, I felt refreshed and less stressed, showing improvement on both my physical and my mental health. I found this walk healing, and reduced my stress and anxiety levels greatly. This time in nature also helped me achieve a good deep sleep, feeling well rested the next day.

Resources

https://www.saanich.ca/assets/Community/Documents/Written%20and%20spoken%20acknowledgments.pdf

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