I attended the Outward Bound Women of Courage program in the mid-1990’s and it was a wonderful opportunity and I highly recommend women apply for this program as it’s still in operation. Truly amazing.
I chose the snow option back then, which meant I was hiking and backpacking in snow, in the Pemberton area. And yes, I completed the one night solo under a tarp with glaciers and avalanches around me in the faraway distance.
To make your own cover for the night with a tarp, a shovel and not much else, was a challenge but I actually really enjoyed it. We were given some nuts to eat and orange crystals to mix with snow in a water bottle, to have fluids. (I’m sure we had other food but I can’t really remember to be honest)
A couple of women (at least) went back to base camp in the middle of the night as they couldn’t tolerate the solitude and fear. Nobody judged them, only love and support. It was wonderful. Everyone was accepted no matter where you were in your journey.
I stuck it out and loved the black of the night with the star-filled skies. That mountain silence, you never forget.
By morning, it was amazing to wake up totally alone in the sunshine and blue skies, to the vastness and beauty that surrounded me. I could hear avalanches go off in the distance but knew they were far far away and that I was totally safe.
But I digress. When I applied to the program I was living in Northern BC and with the snow and ice in the rural location I was living in, it made it difficult to get to the gym and pool daily and I had to train in order to undertake Outward Bound.
So I purchased a rebounder from a local massage therapist who sold them. Best thing I ever did! This wasn’t one of the cheap copies yet I can buy now, it was one of the original rebounders, a very expensive one back then. (I won’t name the brand as I’m not promoting it)
I still have it all these years later and I’ve kept it in good shape. Love it.
Only what is it doing just sitting there without me on it? A rebounder without me bouncing on it?
Long story short, to prepare for Outward Bound, I used the rebounder almost exclusively to change my life. I started with 1-2 minutes and then 5 minutes only.
At the peak of my training I was on the rebounder 1-2 hours per day. Bounding, walking, running, jogging; there’s so much you can do on them.
The rebounder my main training as cycling wasn’t an option with the inclement weather and walking was a challenge with ice and deep snow where I lived, never mind the logging trucks that went by regularly that scared the heck out of me.
So you CAN train entirely on a rebounder and have success. I had NO problem completing, and even thriving in Outward Bound, physically. The training was transferable and I didn’t know for sure if it would transfer to mountain / hill climbing.
So today, I am getting back on that rebounder to help change my life in other ways.
It’s time to rebound back into a full and rich life.
Stay tuned.
Always Love,
Brenda
(and P.S., yes that’s one of my own original paintings in the background 😉
