Ieasa Custer- Veterans and Healing (class reading). 11

 For this post I would like to reflect on ecotherapy and how I find it affects people and those I have spoken with in regards to this writing. One section of Veterans and Healing is titled ‘more than a walk in the wood’ and that is a very fit description. I did my senior thesis research on why people choose to long distance hike the AT and there were a variety of responses but most people were looking to heal themselves. I found that people were feeling lost or alone and life and turned to nature to heal. They found peace and calmness within nature. Many addressed how long distance hiking gives you the time to be along with your thoughts while bettering yourself. They also spoke to how having the vast greatness of nature surrounding you helped to calm nerves and less worries. No one decided the journey as ‘just a walk in the woods’. They all found friends, family, and a new purpose such as discussed in this writing. 


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