Ditch the Sales and Hit the Trails!

A paradigm shift & an invitation

This Black Friday, we’re doing something different. Instead of chasing sales, we’re chasing sunlight and serenity.

Not that I, personally, was ever hard core into the post-Thanksgiving mall craze or getting the best deal, online or otherwise. That mass psychosis never appealed to me. Just the thought of going to a mall or strip mall or the nearest big-box store or shopping in general is enough to send me into a shut-down state. I think there’s an active primitive reflex in there that may need tending to… But I digress.

The Problem

Even though I don’t seem to get swept up by the deals-chasing shopping part of what’s coming up in the next few weeks here in the US, I do get overwhelmed by the generalized stress and intensity of it all. And that makes me kind of angry because we’re going into a season that should be one of gratitude and ease and hunkering down and resting and restoring and spending time. Time with loved ones. Time alone just being. Time noticing. Time admiring. All that time that is ours to embrace is being sucked away, whittled down by stuff. And things. And to-dos. And a massive amount of unmet expectations and disillusionment.

This stuff and the unmet expectations all come wrapped neatly in artificial light and indoor living and ridiculous amounts of radiation exposure in the form of highly-processed blue light, screens, bright LED bulbs, wifi and cell phone microwave emissions. This overconsumption of processed light has left us, as a whole, severely lacking in another essential nutrient: infrared light.

And so, we’ve unwittingly created for us, or chosen to partake in, an existence that delivers a double-whammy. A twofer: emotional AND physiological toxicity that is eroding our health and wellbeing, both as individuals and as the greater whole that makes up our community.

The Antidote

The last few years have lovingly ushered me back into who I really am and how amazing this body I inhabit really is. I am coming back to Nature. I am part of nature. You are too. We are Nature. We must start living like it! Truly embracing it. The healing power of our connection with and to Nature is unmistakable and we must harness it.

We evolved under all of the light of the sun. We have mechanism within us that require light to function. Not food. Straight up light. From the sun.

• Our brain clock, the suprachiasmatic nucleus or SCN, requires blue light signals to know what time it is, and what season it is, in order to tell our very own apothecary, the pituitary gland, when to open for business and make the necessary hormones for us to function.

• Specific amino acids like phenylalanine and tryptophan and histidine require ultraviolet A or UVA inputs from our environment in order to know when to shapeshift into essential hormones and brain chemicals like dopamine, serotonin, melatonin, histamine, melanin and urocanic acid, adrenaline and thyroid hormone. I’m sure you’ve heard of these. I’m sure you’re aware of their importance for overall health and wellness.

  • mental health issues? What’s your light diet?

  • thyroid issues? What’s your light diet?

  • weight management issues? What’s your light diet?

  • gut issues? What’s your light diet?

  • chronic pain, anyone? What’s your light diet?

• Our steroid hormone system is dependent on light to function! Cholesterol, the starting hormone for cortisol and all the sex hormones, needs ultraviolet or UV light in order to begin it’s transformation into pregnenolone and the steroid sex hormones progesterone, estrogen and testosterone.

• Cortisol, the main stress hormone, is essential for life! We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for it. However, when cortisol keeps getting churned out, day in and day out, we run into all kinds of issues that drain our energy and land us square in the adrenal fatigue or wired-but tired deep hole of despair. The signal to activate cortisol is blue light! Blue light from the sun is always balanced by reds and infrareds and ultraviolets. This blue light input has it’s own shut off signal when we encounter darkness regularly, at night. Blue light from indoor living (devices, artificial lights, screens) is unbalanced, devoid of the anti-inflammatory effects of infrareds; it's only off-switch is us stepping away and turning it off. But, because of it’s addicting power over us, we can’t step away and turn it off.

You are welcome to dive deeper into the science of light by checking out some of our previous posts as well as the following resources:

What’s in Your Light Diet?

The CRD Challenge

The Science of Light and all things John Ott

Photobiology with Alexander Wunch, MD

How to go about “fixing” this

Well, the solution to our light malnutrition is simple: GET OUTSIDE! Often. Many times throughout the day.

This simple solution, however is not easy for most of us. Why? Well, because of the aforementioned indoor existence we’ve so “cleverly” crafted for ourselves. When you get right to it, it’s deeply ingrained in how we do life in this 21st century. Therefore, it requires a massive paradigm shift: trails instead of sales, sunlight instead of fake light, fresh air instead of stale air, movement instead of the couch or office chair, the woods instead of the classroom or office, etc.

And so, as part of our mission to “provide accessible health and wellness information by fostering community and empowering people to take charge of their own health”, I invite you to join me and the team here at Horaios Wellness, as we commit to putting our money where our mouth is and lead by example: This coming year, 2025, let’s get outside! Regularly. Daily. Many times throughout the day. Rain, Snow or Shine.

Can we get outside so much and so often that we log 1000 hours out of doors this year? Join the challenge! 1000 HOURS OUTSIDE.

A few years ago I joined this challenge to reclaim childhood for our kiddos - it involved logging 1000 hours outside over the course of a year. We already were pretty outdoorsy. I thought it’d be a piece of cake. A walk in the park. A done deal. Boy was I mistaken! It took some doing to shift indoor lifestyle habits already en route to getting deeply ingrained. Not easy. At all. But we did it. Sort of. Then entropy took over.

entropy: noun

1. Physics

   a thermodynamic quantity representing the unavailability of a system's thermal energy for conversion into mechanical work, often interpreted as the degree of disorder or randomness in the system.

   "the second law of thermodynamics says that entropy always increases with time"

2. lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder.

   "a marketplace where entropy reigns supreme"

Reversing our natural tendency towards entropy requires energy. And support from a community. In the body, reversal of entropy requires healthy mitochondria (our battery and engines) so that the cells and organs can work properly in community with each other. In our daily lives as humans on this earth, reversal of entropy requires energy and motivation from each one of us so that others around us are infused and encouraged to do the same, so we can function properly as a whole.

We’re committed to reversing this society-level entropy that is threatening our general health and wellbeing. While the 1000 Hours Outside movement started out as an incredible global platform to reclaim childhood and reconnect families, it is a great jumping-off point for reclaiming our health and reconnecting with Nature. Regardless of age or circumstance. Let’s piggy back on Ginny Yurich’s amazing accomplishment and broaden it’s reach! Thanks for inspiring us, Ginny! I hope to meet you one of these days.

So, first paradigm shift: replace the list of things to purchase with a list of ways to get outside. Here’s our proposed plan:

1. get your checklist to cross off time outside by the hour here. Every minute outside counts! It’s like wearing a fit bit to track your steps. But analog! To track your time outside. Pen and paper trackers are back!

2. check out our 1000 Hours Outside kick-off Event, this coming Black Friday: Horaios Wellness Nature Club: Black Friday Edition, and mark your calendars

3. pull out your 2025 planner and block off the 10:30am-12pm time block every 2nd Saturday of each month. That’s our Nature Club day. Twelve (12) nature club outings for 2025. One each month. Second Saturday of the month. Join us! A different spot each month.

4. IMPORTANT NOTE ON JOINING OUR NATURE CLUB OUTINGS -

   1. if you’re local to the Greater Syracuse, NY Area, check out our Upcoming Events calendar for dates and locations, and be sure to add them to your personal calendar. Block off the time. Plan for it and you’ll be more likely to stick to it.

   2. Not local? No problem! Join us wherever you are each month, scout out your own local nature spots and trails, gather your own local community and use our Nature Club schedule as a framework for your monthly outings. We’re all quantum entangled anyway!!!!

This is an open invitation to hit the trails and reconnect with what really matters—wellness, calm, and community. This isn’t just a local movement - it’s a call to ALL OF US to put the screens down and step into the world around us. Whether you gather friends for a hike, stroll through a park with your family, or wander solo, you’re part of this movement. It’s not about where you are but the intention to pause and ground yourself.

Wellness isn’t found in shopping bags or online deals, or screens. It’s in the crisp air, the feel of the earth beneath your feet, and the quiet moments where you can hear yourself think. It’s reclaiming your nervous system, one mindful step at a time. And guess what? It costs nothing.

So who’s trading the chaos of retail aisles for the peace of hiking trails this year?

Wherever you are, join in. Let’s make wellness the best Black Friday deal around.

This year, let's choose wellness over chaos. Let's skip the shopping frenzy and choose something better.

Opt Outside! Skip the Sales, Hit the Trails.

Fresh air, peaceful trails, and the quiet rhythm of nature - that's the real deal. No lines, no screens, just time to slow down and soak in the beauty around you.

For all the locals, join us at Amberations in Marrieta, NY.  This gem comes complete with a small petting zoo and amazing, accessible trails.  ALL AGES are welcome! Even your canine companions. Consider donating to this incredible non-profit, whose mission is to bring people of all abilities together with nature.

To blooming and reconnecting with what really matters! And remember, like my grandma used to say:

“Plan your work and work your plan, otherwise your plan won’t work.”

Amanda