Adventures in Mother Nature's Gym: The Ultimate Guide to Planning and Leading Your Own Outdoor Fitness Retreats

Do the following mantras resonate with you?:“A healthy body is incomplete without a healthy mind.”“One must find a way to beauty, then, once found, walk in beauty.”“Fitness is more than a gym work out-it’s a way of life.”Melanie Webb is certainly one of the consummate back country guides of our time, and her latest book is a kind salutation, an invitation to “Come, follow me into nature”.The philosophies and pragmatic instruction in this book certainly comport with the standard of care for musculoskeletal health. As a member of the Board of Counselors at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery, I can strongly state that if the world followed the precepts espoused in this book, fewer people would require the skills that I can offer in clinic or in the operating room.Notwithstanding the sound science in these pages, as a lay enthusiastic amateur practitioner of back country adventure brokering, this book is a quantum leap to an entirely new, exciting approach to outdoor fun. I now see water, forests, mountains, and desert as a companion and partner; and regardless as to whether you worship at the altar of Mother Nature, or The Creator, this book is for you.In brief, the first part of the book explores the physiology of the inexorable connectedness of the mind/body, psyche/soma to the realm of nature in all of its variety. The second part appeals to the host inside of me. I love planning, inviting, initiating, and executing trips to the back country as a way to entertain friends, family, and colleagues. Ms. Webb creates an easy to follow, pragmatic template on how to attend to the needs, goals, and capacities of your guests and clients in the outback. Finally, she completes the bouquet of instruction with an outstanding demonstration of workouts that can be done with a simple yoga mat and one’s own bodyweight...all in the context of natural, remote surroundings. She also discusses her passion for stand up paddling, cycling, and hiking.Congratulations to Melanie Webb. Can’t wait for the next book!Paul Winterton MDBoard of Counselors, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons

This book is essential for new, aspiring, or even relatively experienced outdoor adventure outfitters and entrepreneurs. It shares vital insights into practical matters to consider and address in determining or refining your outfitter firm, with a lot of great real life examples provided by the author herself. Success stories shared are helpful and inspiring, but the really great stuff is in her real world mistakes and pitfalls that she includes to help others avoid the same errors.Beside providing practical information useful for aspiring or fledgling outfitters, the book includes a lot of mind/body/nature connection advice, to really help any outfitter provide a deeper more substantial experience for their future clients. Mindfulness, preparation, adaptability, professionalism and knowing the land involved are all covered well and will help outfitters focus their business plan, improve their customer relations skills, and stay attentive to the most vital aspects of an outdoor adventure that will please clients and keep them coming back.For even more help after reading this book, I recommend the companion workbook that will really help the new and fledgling entrepreneurs to avoid mistakes and omissions from inexperience.

An excellent source for anyone interested in midwestern adventure fitness. Melanie is an excellent fitness profession with a passion for what she does in a fun but no nonsense kind of way. If this is the type of adventure you’re looking for this is a book you want to read and Mel is someone you’d want to get in touch with!

Excellent fitness adventure even if you are not planning on being a guide. Inspiration to get out and get going with practical examples for even the ordinary person.

Supported by empirical findings and vignettes from her 20 years of guiding clients on wilderness retreats in the deserts of southern Utah, Bali, Peru and elsewhere, Webb makes a compelling case that "flow state" mind-body immersion into nature is key to personal wellness, particularly for the technology-distracted and cortisol-filled minds and bodies of the developed world. This is a how-to guide for leading mind-body wellness/fitness retreats into nature, aimed primarily at outdoor fitness guides but also accessible to a lay audience (as a fitness enthusiast but non-trainer there were only a few exercise terms I didn't understand).In Part One (pp.15-37), Webb sets forth what ails us in modern life: escalating obesity, individual depletion and lowered productivity due to technology/media, mental health disorders (anxiety, depression, addiction, ADHD and others). In Part Two (pp.39-70), she lays out impressive scientific findings showing that, for us to find our way back to wellness, there really is no substitute for nature, and she points specifically to natural water ("blue mind"), forest ("green mind") and desert ("red" or "desert mind"). These findings are especially notable:- Simply being close to water releases dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin; being in water counterbalances the stress hormone catecholamine, which regulates artery function, achieving relaxation effect. In short, simply being in or near water relaxes us and promotes higher functioning and well being (citing Nichols, "Blue Mind").- A walk in a forest will do for you what a walk in a city cannot: research found oxyhemoglobin in the prefrontal cortex and systolic blood pressure diminish during a walk in the forest but not a walk in the city (citing Williams and Miyazaki, "The Nature Cure").- Human brainwaves during relaxation and creativity fluctuate at a frequency near the same frequency of the magnetic field of the earth (Schumann Resonance), suggesting that the mind may function best when attuned to the natural world. She aptly concludes the core therapeutic insight in this book: "[W]e need nature to be healthy!"Part Three (pp.71-105, "Sol Guide Method") lays out the major goals of outdoor fitness guides: Webb encourages trainers to promote "flow state" in clients (it lies at the intersection of challenge and control) by designing retreats for the body (she includes a whole battery of body-weight exercises--perfect for being in nature because clients won't have other weights--that comprise Part Six (pp.189-213)) and mind (setting out exercises for mindfulness, intention-setting, and a few nature-inspired quotes, poems, and American Indian or shamanic methods). In Part Four (pp.107-143), she addresses the major roles and functions of outdoor fitness guides, including their aspirational traits, limitations, relationships to their own bodies and clients, and a particular highlight on the important role of facilitating play (citing play researcher Sutton-Smith). And in Part Five (pp.145-187), she ties it all together, guiding the guides all the way from client intake/assessment to structuring the details of outdoor client fitness retreats.My only criticism--and this could be just personal preference--is that the 250-page book could probably be trimmed by 25 to 50 pages. Still though, a worthwhile and eye-opening journey. Webb's passion for wellness, people, fitness, and the healing power of nature is infectious, and you can see she's earned her reputation as one of the industry's top trainers, with nods from MDs, trainers, trade publications, and corporate clients (endorsements behind front cover). Impressive, inspiring, and useful.