Category: health

A stethoscope surrounding an outline of the globe on a blue background. Hanta, Ebola and ticks: what I worry about and what I don’t worry about (much)
fitness · health · illness · Science

Hanta, Ebola and ticks: what I worry about and what I don’t worry about (much)

catherine w1 Comment

These are the days when I’m glad to know some really good epidemiologists. The planet is warming, global travel is surging, and bad buggies are on the move. No, not these kinds of buggies:

Dune, beach and horse and buggy. None of them infectious, as far as I know.
Dune, beach and horse and buggy. None of them infectious, as far as I know.

Nope. I’m taking about these buggies:

Lyme bacteria, the current Ebola virus, and the Andes hanta virus-- colorful but dangerous.
Lyme bacteria, the current Ebola virus, and the Andes hanta virus– colorful but dangerous.

I thought I might post some updates from the aforementioned really-good-epi folks, as it’s sometimes overwhelming to try to keep up with global health news and hard to know which sources to trust. I’m not a doctor (not the medical kind, anyway), but my posted updates are from sources *I* trust– international news outlets, the WHO (World Health Organization), and YLE (Your Local Epidemiologist) substack (which pulls its info from the most reliable technical sources).

So, in titular order:

First: I posted recently about the hanta virus outbreak on a ship traveling from South America to Europe: Bad news/good news about the hantavirus outbreak.

According to the European CDC, as of 26 May there are a total of 13 cases (11 confirmed) of hantavirus. One new case has been confirmed since the last update. There are no new deaths. All quarantined persons in North America are still negative. There’s a long (45 day) incubation period, but we’re at the median period now. This means if you weren’t on that ship, you are almost certainly in the clear. Color me not worried.

My apologies if I've used the pineapple with sun glasses and party hat recently, but it personifies happiness to me right now.
My apologies if I’ve used the pineapple with sun glasses and party hat recently, but it personifies non-worry to me right now.

Second: There’s an Ebola outbreak in The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda. According to YLE, there are more than 1000 cases so far in DRC, which experts believe is an undercount. Why? For wonky epidemiological reasons:

  • positive test rate is 50%
  • At most 20% of contacts are being traced right now
  • They’ve only been really testing for a week, and it’s a lot-a-lot of cases for one week
  • Cases are spread out over 16 different health zones, so containment is harder

You might be wondering, what are the Centers for Disease Control and the US government doing to help contain this outbreak and support and treat those who are affected by Ebola (which has an average case fatality rate of 50%)?

During the 2013–2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the US and Canadian governments played major roles in sending public health teams, supplies, health workers, setting up treatment centers, and providing support, along with the WHO and dozens of other countries. More than 11,000 people died of Ebola, with another 17,000 surviving it.

In 2026, the situation is quite different. Canada is providing more than $8M in international assistance funding though a bunch of governmental and non-governmental organizations. This is in addition to its annual $150–200M in foreign aid. See here for latest details.

The US government, after cutting foreign aid to the DRC by 75% (affecting its public health and other necessary infrastructures), is releasing $80M to various organizations overseen by the UN and various NGOs (non-governmental organizations).

However, the big emphasis by the Trump administration is that no American contracting Ebola (including those health workers its sending to Africa) will be returned to the US for treatment (in one of the several world-class health centers with top-level bio-containment.) Instead, according to the New York Times,

The Trump administration plans to send to Kenya U.S. citizens exposed to the Ebola virus rather than bring them home for observation and treatment, according to three people with knowledge of the plans.

The approach is a stark contrast to the way previous administrations responded to outbreaks, during which health care workers and other U.S. citizens exposed to the virus were brought home to be treated at specialized medical units. The administration this month flew an American doctor who developed symptoms to a hospital in Germany, and transported six other Americans for monitoring in Germany and the Czech Republic.

According to the substack by Dr. Craig Spencer (the physician who got Ebola in 2014 while working for MSF/Medicins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders and WAS transported to the US for treatment, and recovered):

The government is training a few dozen Public Health Service officers — uniformed members of the U.S. commissioned corps — to deploy to Kenya to staff it. These are people we send under orders, often to crises, disasters, and outbreaks. And under this plan, if one of them is exposed, or falls ill, the government apparently does not intend to bring them home either.

So, to sum up: for this Ebola outbreak, the risk to the North American public is very very low. But, the risk to global health overall is substantial. Also, the risk to American and other health workers, deployed military doing humanitarian work, and UN personnel os higher than it needs to be because the US is refusing to take care of them in our own world-class medical facilities.

So, am I worried about me or others in North American getting Ebola? No. Am I worried about the damage my country’s leaders are doing to global healthcare capacity, the mission of international health workers, and citizens of all countries affected by this outbreak? YES. You bet I am.

Third and finally, there are the ticks. It turns out that tick numbers are declining in the Northeast and Midwest at this point in 2026. YLE annoted this very nice CDC graph to show where we are:

The blue-green line is this year, and we are about at peak for the year, and it's lower than previous years. I mean, that's something.
The blue-green line is tick-related ED visits this year, and we are about at peak for the year, and it’s lower this year. I mean, that’s something.

However, tick-borne diseases are in general on the upswing, so we all need to be careful. Here are more YLE tips:

Keep enjoying the outdoors! But if you’re in a tick-prone area, take that extra minute to do a tick check. The most important thing is removing the tick properly (use fine-tipped tweezers, grab close to the skin, pull upward, no twisting, no Vaseline, no matches). Then watch for symptoms: fever, rash, fatigue, joint aches. If you find an attached tick and are in a high-risk area for Lyme disease, it’s worth calling your doctor if it was attached for more than 36 hours.

So, am I worried about ticks? Always. I live in tick heaven here in New England. But this means I am careful to wear proper repellents (DEET for skin and Permethrin for clothing for me; you do you here), and I also check carefully after being outside. Will this keep me from going outside? Certainly not. And I hope it won’t slow down your outdoorsy summer, either.

Happy Friday, y’all!

A slide of liver tissue with the hanta virus. Bad news/good news about the hantavirus outbreak
fitness · health · illness · Science

Bad news/good news about the hantavirus outbreak

catherine w1 Comment

I’ve been following the hantavirus outbreak with great interest and a little trepidation. Great interest because my day job– public health ethicist– means I want to see how this is being handled to think, write and teach about it; a little trepidation because, well, it’s an an outbreak of a scary virus on a large moving vessel (the MV Honius) driving around the ocean with 175 people aboard. Yeah.

There is overall good news coming out of reliable sources (e.g. the World Health Organization websites, public health substacks like Your Local Epidemiologist, which I read and trust). That news is that the case count as of May 13 was 11 cases and 3 deaths. The passengers have all disembarked, and their countries have made arrangements for their sequestration and/or surveillance during the roughly 6-week incubation period.

But I think we need to know what’s working well and what’s not in public health these days. After COVID, we learned a lot. But some lessons we still keep having to go back to, again and again.

Bad news/good news one: The bad news is that a hantavirus outbreak on a ship was not on anyone’s radar. Yale epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina said on this podcast on her substack that this scenario was not on her top-100 list of Bad Things to Happen on a Cruise Ship.

The good news is that as soon as hantavirus was confirmed in one of the sick passengers, the WHO swung into action, coordinating reporting to health authorities, sharing knowledge, helping arrange safe dockage for the ship, and contact tracing for the 34 passengers who had disembarked after the virus came aboard.

Bad news/good news two: Where was the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) in all this? Well, pretty much in the dark because

  • Trump fired or forced out many/most of the senior scientists who have leadership experience in infectious disease;
  • Trump pulled out of the WHO, so the CDC isn’t officially in the loop on their activities (the Your Local Epidemiologist folks said that US public health people were getting info from WHO friends as a favor to them);
  • current leadership of the CDC isn’t even requiring the American passengers from the cruise ship to quarantine at home during the 42-day incubation period. According to this article, “the CDC is currently taking a “conservative approach” that involves “encouraging” people to stay home during the monitoring period.”

But but… what about the good news? Here it is: state and local public health authorities are on the scene, and they are monitoring the passengers, communicating regularly with the communities where the affected passengers are staying, and being completely transparent about the processes they are using the manage the crisis. This happens every day, all day, for all manner of infectious diseases, including flu, pertussis, measles hepatitis, all over the world. Local public health folks deserve a yearly parade. And yes, my sister of one of those folks– she’s a public health epidemiology nurse, working hard in an understaffed agency (also thanks to Trump and RFK). If it weren’t a major privacy violation, I’d ask you all to send her a thank-you card…

Bad news/good news three: Cruise ships and viruses– man, this just keeps happening! Yes, it’s true that cruise ships seem to be floating petri dishes for nasty bugs like norovirus. E coli outbreaks happen, too. But, in this case, the MV Honius folks did everything they could to minimize health and environmental impact of their travel (other than being an energy-intensive mode of transportation): they had sanitation protocols designed to keep contaminating biomatter from leaving or entering the ship, especially as their destinations are often fragile ecosystems. It was just a very unfortunate happenstance that the only form of hantavirus with human-to-human contact showed up from two passengers who likely contracted it in Argentina. The ship authorities responded promptly and fully, cooperating with the WHO and affected countries.

Bad news/good news four: there is no treatment for hantavirus (other than supportive care), and it has a case fatality rate of 25–40%. Oh, and this variant– the Andes version– is the only known one with human-to-human contact. Okay, let’s make sure to breathe here. The good news is Andes virus outbreaks have happened before and been stopped through old-fashioned public health means of isolation and contact tracing. Also, this virus isn’t highly contagious– it’s much less contagious than COVID.

Bad news/good news five: with the CDC in a leadership and knowledge vacuum and political leadship refusing to back up or fund public health infrastructure, it’s harder than ever to get accurate and relevant and trustworthy information. Yes, that’s true. But the good news is that there are both official sites (like the WHO, international news outlets) and substacks are out there and on the job (like Your Local Epidemiologist and dozens of others by conscientious experts who care about the public’s physical health and emotional well-being when crises happen). I posted this clear and reassuring flow chart on FB that the YLE folks made. It reassured me, and I hope it will reassure you.

Flow chart assessing anyone's risk from the hantavirus. Upshot: if you weren't on the boat or spending a lot of time with someone who was, you're likely totally fine.
Flow chart assessing anyone’s risk from the hantavirus. Upshot: if you weren’t on the boat or spending a lot of time with someone who was, you’re likely totally fine.

As always, your trusty FIFI bloggers will keep you apprised of whatever comes our way. Now, go out and enjoy the lovely May day…

health · mindfulness

Meaningful May? Sounds Great!

Christine Hennebury1 Comment

I’m a few days late for the new Action for Happiness monthly calendar but I really love the idea of Meaningful May.

I’m not one of those people who insists that every single moment must be saturated with meaning but I am one of those people who thinks that any given ordinary moment could be meaningful – and I firmly believe that meaning is worth seeking/creating.

So, obviously, I’m a fan of the tiny daily ideas that this month’s Action for Happiness calendar provides for seeking meaning in the ordinary.

I like all of the suggestions but I find the idea of making ‘a list of the things that matter to me and why’ especially appealing.

Which Meaningful May tip appeals to you the most?

a calendar of tips about finding meaning in the ordinary for May 2026
A daily calendar for May 2026 from Action for Happiness. The individual blocks are pink, red, light blue, or darker blue and there is a tip for seeking meaning typed into each one. The edge of the calendar is decorated with simple cartoon images of things like a cup of tea, a paper airplane, a person on a bike, or a few planets. At the bottom of the calendar the words ‘Happier. Kinder. Together’ appear in green.

PS – If you want to hear a bit more about Meaningful May, check out the Action for Happiness video below “How to find meaning in the past, present and future. Meaningful May with Vanessa King.

A video from Action for Happiness featuring Vanessa King, a white woman with shoulder length hair and a bright expression on her face looking directly at the camera with a few plants and an old black and white photo of a couple on their wedding day. on the right ide of the image is text reading “Finding Meaning: 3 top tips with Vanessa King.”

health · swimming

Last Swim for a While

Diane Harper1 Comment

By the time you read this, I will be in recovery following my heart valve replacement.

I’m grateful I was able to go into surgery relatively fit. It will help my recovery.

I’m even more grateful that we finally had some good weather and I was able to go for a bike ride on Friday.

And I’m especially grateful to this amazing group of women, my swim club lane-mates. I couldn’t ask for better pals and can’t wait to be back in the water with them.

Five women grouped together in a swimming pool, hamming it up for the camera.
a photo of the author's legs and there is a lot of snow in the background It’s a bit early for patio yoga but Christine gave it a go anyway.
fitness · health · snow · yoga

It’s a bit early for patio yoga but Christine gave it a go anyway.

Christine HenneburyLeave a comment

And it was GREAT!

It was sunny here last Friday so my husband spend a bit of time shoveling snow off of our patio – mostly to have something to do outside.

When it was sunny and spring-ish on Saturday, we wanted to have the patio door open so I dug the screen door out of the shed and had the brilliant idea (if I do say so myself) to drag a few patio chairs out at the same time.

Now it was sunny and relatively warm and we had chairs on the patio so it suddenly felt like our outdoor space was available to us again.

Obviously, my next step was to drag out a mat and do some yoga outdoors.

Did it feel strange to be doing yoga outside with snowshovels in the background? I’ll let you interpret that for yourself.

a selfie of the author with the sun on her face, and two snowshovels in the background
Image description: a selfie of me (a middle-aged white woman with a round face and light brown hair that is pulled back by a cloth band that happens to contain earphones) in a dark pink hoodie with the sun shining on my face, smirking at the fact that I am doing yoga outdoors while there are still necessary snow shovels propped against my house.

Was it weird to be lying on my mat in the sunshine while the grass in my backyard was still mostly covered in snow?

Well, it felt weird enough to take a photo of it at least…

A person's leg and foot in black socks resting on a deck, with bare trees and a blue sky in the background.
Image description: a photo of my legs with the backyard full of snow visible in the background while propping myself up a little as I was lying on my mat on the patio. In the photo, I am lying on the ground with my right leg bent so the knee is toward the sky and the foot is on the ground. My left leg is bent so the outside of my foot is resting on the top of my right knee and my left knee is pointing to the left. You can see my blue yoga mat and part of the patio through the triangle formed by my legs. On my right is our patio mats, and more patio slats and beyond them you can see the railings, a whole bunch of snow, some leafless trees, the blue sky and our faded wooden fence.

But even though it felt kinda weird, it also felt great to be doing that slow, steady, focused movement in the bright sunlight and the fresh air.

Despite the snow, it felt like warm weather and more outdoor fun might be just around the (very long!) corner.

And if you saw this when you opened your eyes after Savasana, you might have believed it, too.

a photo of bare tree branches and blue sky
A photo of my view upwards from my yoga mat. Image description: a photo of bare tree branches with just a hint of growth on them with the bright blue sky in the background.

PS – Thanks to Steve for shoveling off the patio and setting this whole thing in motion.

people in the ocean with a dolphin swimming by. BY Dirk Erasmus for unsplash. Why one new anti-aging supplement is great… if you’re a dolphin
aging · fitness · food · health · nutrition · Science

Why one new anti-aging supplement is great… if you’re a dolphin

catherine wLeave a comment

One never knows what one’s media feed will present to one on any given day.

Last Monday morning, the following ad appeared:

Ad for Fatty 15 (TM), a bottle of pills claiming to improve your health in miraculous ways.
Ad for Fatty 15 (TM), a bottle of pills claiming to improve your health in myriad and miraculous ways.

My first thoughts were:

  • Fatty15?
  • FATTY15?
  • Really?!
  • THAT’S the name the marketing team came up with in order to SELL this to me?
I am so very confused. Thanks Uday Mittai from Unsplash, for the perfect rendition of it.
I am so very confused. Thanks Uday Mittai from Unsplash, for the perfect rendition of it.

Okay, what in the wild and unregulated supplement world is this FATTY15 thing? Here’s the TLDR version.

  • There are a lot of fatty acids.
  • They are found in lots of foods we eat.
  • Omega-3 fatty acids are a good fatty acid. They’re found in e.g. salmon, walnuts and edamame.
  • Trans-fats are a bad fatty acid. They’re found in e.g. many ultra-processed and fried foods, and many baked goods.
  • C15:0 is a recently found fatty acid. We don’t know much about it.
  • A new company called FATTY15 (again, wtaf) wants to sell it to you, promising you whole health in a bottle.

BUT BUT… HOW DID THE DOLPHINS GET INVOLVED?

Patience– I’m getting to this now.

It turns out that some dolphins work for the US Navy. They detect underwater mines and enemy swimmers (don’t ask me how). Part of their employee health plan includes research on and treatment of diseases related to dolphin-aging (they get some of the same diseases we do).

This person below– Dr. Stephanie Venn-Watson, the translational medicine and research program director for the Navy’s National Marine Mammal Foundation– led a crack team of dolphin health experts to manage their care.

Honestly, if my job were to make sure that dolphins lived their best life ever while in the emply of the United State government, I'd look that happy, too.
Honestly, if my job were to make sure that dolphins lived their best lives ever while in the employ of the United States government, I’d look that happy, too.

Here’s some info from this article:

The team analyzed the dolphins’ blood samples taken throughout their lives to identify molecules present in the healthiest dolphins. One of the top nutrients was the molecule C15:0, a saturated fatty acid (pentadecanoic acid). In the human diet, C15:0 is present in dairy fat—whole milk, butter, and cheeses.

Obviously, dolphins don’t have that option after infancy, unlike humans. But don’t worry– your research dollars found a solution:

…when they fed [older] dolphins with chronic diseases diets higher in C15:0 (fatty fish), they became healthier. Further research supported their findings that C15:0 lowers risk and can actually reverse many chronic diseases [in older dolphins, maybe], making it an essential fatty acid, a nutrient that the body does not produce but is essential to health.

Venn-Watson co-wrote this paper to argue for proof of concept for C15:0, but with no human studies. Then she started a company to try to sell C15:0 to humans, since dolphins a) don’t carry credit cards; and b) C15:0 supplements are covered by their navy employee health plan. She also wrote a book to help shill this stuff. And gave a TEDx talk to shill some more. But we have any actual evidence that it works?

Healthier skin/hair? NO Balanced metabolism? Uh-uh. Deeper Sleep? No chance. 3X more cellular benefits than omega-3? What does this even mean?
Healthier skin/hair? NO
Balanced metabolism? Uh-uh.
Deeper Sleep? No chance.
3X more cellular benefits than omega-3? What does this even mean?

And is it FDA-approved? Hell to the no. Just like all those other untested supplements. Please, oh, please just save your money.

BUT BUT THE FATTY15 WEBSITE!

It says all kinds of things that maybe are true. What about their claims?

Text on a slide discussing claims about essential fatty acids and a related study, highlighting skepticism towards certain assertions.

To sum up:

  • The dolphins are going to be okay.
  • We are going to be okay.
  • Eating food and moving our bodies are good things to do, be we human or dolphin.
  • The one supplement that I personally can recommend is to supplement your viewing by adding Heated Rivalry to your watchlist. You’ll be glad you did.

fitness · health · swimming

Swimmer’s Teeth

Diane Harper2 Comments

Forget those images of lifeguards and swimmers with teeth sparkling white in their tanned faces. Apparently, swimmer’s teeth is a thing.

What is it and how does it happen? Apparently the chlorine and other pool chemicals can change the ph in your mouth, leading the discolouration, tartar, and even softened, cracked teeth. A swimmer friend brought it to my attention, and the consensus in our little group is that it can be a real issue.

All three of us have more than normal tartar at every dental check-up, and one has issues with discolouration and cracking. I’m curious about how many members of our respective swim clubs also suffer from it.

I have written about cycling and dental health before. A quick search shows that it appears to be an issue for runners, and athletes more generally, as well.

The advice to manage it all seems to boil down to: brush your teeth, especially before exercising; drink plenty of water; avoid sugary drinks and snacks; get to the dentist regularly.

This is good advice for everyone, so I’ll tuck this information away, keep up with my dental hygiene, and swim as often as possible in lakes or rivers.

A woman in a grey bathing cap and goggles shows off her smile from a pool with dark blue water.

fat · fitness · health · stereotypes · weight stigma

Medical Decisions Still are Sometimes More Art Than Science

Diane Harper2 Comments

This is an anecdote, not a study result so take it for what it’s worth to you.

I needed some prescriptions refilled so I went to my doctor to get the annual testing done to confirm I still had the correct dose. He sent me a message saying that he recommended doubling my cholesterol medication because I am pre-diabetic (I am not) and have a history of heart disease.

I pushed back, pointing out that similar testing had been done at the heart institute three months prior, and the results were well within normal ranges for fasting blood tests. While my non-fasting results at the clinic were a little higher, they were still normal. This led to some back-and-forth about risk factors as a heart patient.

I wasn’t happy with what I was hearing so booked another appointment to discuss in person. I am “lucky” enough to have results of a recent CT scan on my femoral arteries, an angiogram, and a carotid ultrasound. All showed that my arteries are very clear. My heart disease is a mechanical thing that will be fixed with surgery. He admitted he doesn’t normally have access to that level of information so started to shift his approach.

He moved on to lifestyle and how I was possibly still high risk. Eating patterns: near-vegetarian who pays close attention to fibre intake. Exercise: at least 5 hours of moderate to intense movement each week. Weight: yup, it’s heavier than BMI recommendations, but it’s also mostly solid muscle (see previous note on exercise) and it has remained unchanged for over 30 years.

Diane in one of her favourite fat athlete photos. She is wearing a colourful bikini and blue cap. She is holding her orange float for open water swims and posing in the Ottawa River on a grey and cloudy day.

In short, I am a case study on why medical professionals should not rely on weight to judge overall health.

In the end, he agreed that my risk assessment should drop from high to low. My medication will not be changing.

Thanks fellow bloggers, especially Sam and Catherine, for writing so often about this issue and giving me the courage to speak up.

a photo of a collaged heart with text reading February to the bottom right Christine’s Two Experiments For February
ADHD · goals · habits · health · self care

Christine’s Two Experiments For February

Christine HenneburyLeave a comment

After last week’s post about January’s experiments, my plan was to just explore the questions I was asking myself and then carry on with the same activities throughout February.

But then, on Sunday morning, I woke up with the idea that I wanted to add two things to my plans for February.*

a small drawing of the number 2
Sure, this 2 is a little wonky but it’s grand that way. Same could be said for many of us, hey? 😉 image description: the number two drawn in red with gold trim against a background of red dots. The card the drawing is on is also trimmed in gold and it is resting on my black computer keyboard. I borrowed this drawing from my Dec 2 post.

My first instinct was to talk myself out of it – I’m already working on several things and I don’t want to overload myself – but then I realized that these two small things fit in quite nicely with the ways I am trying to establish practices and processes overall for myself in 2026.

So, that’s why I am going ahead with adding at least a 1 minute wall-sit and adding 1 more serving of veggies to my lunch this month.

These practices both feel like a good way to work on trying something imperfectly (which was the topic of one of my questions in last week’s post!) and they will be beneficial to me even if I don’t get to them every single day.

Both of these things can be helpful for my blood pressure (I’m on BP meds already and just keeping an eye on my numbers.)

I really want to eat more veggies anyway so the structure of ‘1 more at lunch’ is a straightforward way to start.

The wall-sits will take very little time, they feel doable and they are good for my glutes and my knees – both of which need some attention.

So, even though these things are ‘extra’ they will help me with my big picture goals., they have lots of potential benefits with minimal effort, and if they don’t work out?

No big deal!

These are experiments – if they don’t work, I can try something else.

But if they do work I will have practiced more practices, strengthened my legs, eaten more veggies, had more satisfying lunches, taken good care of myself, and maybe even done something good for my blood pressure.

Let’s see how it goes!

*Convenient, hey? 2 things for the second month? Sometimes my brain is so TIDY!)

a dog on a leash looking into some trees with houses in behind them January 20 is Take A Walk Outdoors Day
fitness · health · mindfulness · nature · walking

January 20 is Take A Walk Outdoors Day

Christine HenneburyLeave a comment

Today is Take A Walk Outdoors Day and I plan to celebrate by, you guessed it, taking a walk outdoors!

This isn’t a new thing for me, of course, I take a walk outdoors with Khalee most days, but I am making a point to get a good walk in today.

For the record, I also took a walk outdoors on Monday, even though it was just Take A Walk Outdoors Eve. It was a very drizzly day and Khalee was not a fan. She insisted on turning around to head home after just a few minutes but I’m still counting it as a walk outdoors.

A tan and white dog standing in snow, wearing a harness and leash.
Poor Khalee Pup looks so fed up with me. I’m sorry for dragging you out into the drizzle, KP! Image description: Khalee, a light-haired, medium-sized dog is standing in the middle of some snow facing towards the right. She has turned her head towards the camera. Her fur looks damp and she does not seem delighted to be outdoors, despite the mental health benefits.

Note: Are there entirely too many ‘official’ days for ordinary things? Maybe. Do I enjoy choosing to celebrate some of them all the same? Hells, yes! If it adds fun to my life and does no harm? I am IN.

As I was writing this post I did a quick search to see how many of my posts mention walking. It turns out that I have written 668 posts for Fit is a Feminist Issue and at least 192 of them mention walking. That includes posts for Making Space and Go Team so some of them may not be about my own walks but I still find it interesting that there are that many. Also, that 192 doesn’t include some posts that are about walking but that didn’t get picked up by the search function for some reason – like the poem one linked below.

Here are a few of my favourite posts about getting out for a walk:

Seven Things Christine Noticed On Her Sunday Walk

Khalee Solves Christine’s Problem (a poem?)

Christine and Khalee Try Walking Meditation

Just For Fun With Christine and Khalee

The health benefits of being outdoors is one of those things that I “know” but I realized I had never actually looked it up before so I did and I found this article from the Canadian Psychological Association that you may want to have a look at:

“Psychology Works” Fact Sheet: Benefits of Nature Exposure
This image is a link to a 2024 “Psychology Works”Fact Sheet entitled Benefits of Nature Exposure from the Canadian Psychological Association. The credits below are copied directly from the document:
This fact sheet has been prepared for the Canadian Psychological Association by Yasmeen Ibrahim, Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Student, and Shannon Johnson, Ph.D., Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Dalhousie University.

Another thing that sprang to mind while I was writing this was the Latin phrase Solvitur Ambulando which means “It is solved by walking.” I don’t speak or read Latin but I came across that phrase years ago and I love how it landed with me.

I took it literally when I first heard it – that walking around can help you figure things out – but I have since found out that it is also about solving complicated abstract problems by taking practical action. It works in all directions, really.

And in confirming the Latin spelling, I came across this delightful ‘sketchplanation’ of the literal interpretation of the phrase by Jono Hey

A simple illustration depicting three stick figures walking on a path through green hills. One figure has a light bulb above them, symbolizing an idea or realization. The text 'SOLVITUR AMBULANDO' and 'it is solved by walking' is displayed at the top.
Image: Jono Hey, Sketchplanations Image description: this image shows three stick figures walking along a hilly field in shades of green. The first one on the left has a cloud made of dark scribbles above their head that indicates some confusion, they are walking towards the right and towards the back of the image. Then we see a later version of the same person walking from the back of the image towards us, and the cloud of confusion is a lighter colour. Finally, we see the same person closest to us on the right, and above their head is a light bulb symbolizing an idea and the light bulb is surrounded by green lines indicating a sort of brightness. Text at the top of the image reads, in Latin, Solvitur Ambulando and (the translation) it is solved by walking. This image is representing the idea that taking action, moving forward, literally or figuratively can help you to organize your thoughts and plans.

And seeing as I am pretending to be all sophisticated by sharing a Latin phrase, I’ll lean into that and share a quote (that is about walking and not about walking) from a poem that I love called [Traveler, your footprints] by Antonio Machado.

Traveler, there is no road;

you make your own path as you walk.

~Antonio Machado

Now, as good as it is to take a walk outdoors and to recommend walking outdoors, I know that that’s not always possible for everyone. and from what I understand, you can get some of the benefits of walking outdoors, of being in nature, and the like from looking at pictures of nature and, I assume, watching videos of people’s nature hikes.

So, in the spirit of focusing on things we can do instead of getting all caught up in the things we can’t do: If you are not able to get out outside today to take a walk (or to propel yourself by whatever means you usually do) then here are a few nature walking videos that I thought you might enjoy watching at home – whether or not you are walking/moving at the same time.

Have fun!

Image Description: The still image for this video shows a path leading forward through a wintery forest scene. the trees on both sides have snow on their branches and all of the undergrowth is laden with snow. There’s also snow on the path leading ahead. In the centre of the image is text reading “Winter Walk” and it is in a handwritten sort of font.
Image Description The still image shows a path through tall green trees on a spring or summer day. The path is clear and flat and has a wooden fence on both sides. Tt’s a sunny day and even though you can’t see the sky you can see the the light from the sun making all of the needles on the trees and the moss and plants in the undergrowth glow in the soft light. The trees are large and we’re mostly just seeing trunks and lower branches. There is a large tree to the left that has fallen so we’re seeing its roots and the tree trunk, which has moss on it, extending towards the left and backwards.
Image description: The still image of this video shows waves lapping on a yellow-brown beach on a sunny day with a bright blue sky. There are evergreens and other trees and some grass on the upper left far above the wet part of the beach. The beach extends forward for a long ways.
Image description: The still image for this video shows a fall scene in the woods with a path that extends into the distance with trees on either side. The path is strewn with orange leaves and some of the tress have orange leaves left on them. There are also a few evergreen trees here and there among the other trees.
Image description: The still image for this video shows a green field with hundreds of dandelion flowers growing in it. In the distance you can see farm houses, and structures for electrical lines, and a strip of blue/grey sky.
I had to include this video because this trail is about 15 minutes from my house and I thought you might enjoy seeing the rocky terrain and the ocean views on this hike. Image description: The still image for this video shows a collection of houses in a variety of colours in a part of St. John’s, NL called The Battery. The streets in this area are narrow and winding so the photo kind of looks like the houses are clustered haphazardly. There is a mix of old, weather-beaten structures and brightly-coloured newly painted houses. There is a rocky area in the foreground of the photo. This photo was taken on a sunny fall day so while the picture is bright.