{"id":6131,"date":"2015-11-11T07:00:07","date_gmt":"2015-11-11T15:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=6131"},"modified":"2024-09-26T12:54:46","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T19:54:46","slug":"warriors-in-the-woods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/paddle\/warriors-in-the-woods","title":{"rendered":"Warriors in the Woods"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019d been decades since Greg had been on a river, and his memories weren\u2019t good. During the Vietnam War he\u2019d been a river patrol boat gunner\u2014a hazardous job with high casualty rates.<\/p>\n

This past summer, however, he joined a whitewater rafting trip down California\u2019s American River as part of the Sierra Club\u2019s Military Outdoors<\/a> program, sponsored in part by REI.<\/p>\n

The start of the trip wasn\u2019t auspicious. At the riverbank, the weight of Greg\u2019s wartime experiences hit him hard, leaving him feeling anxious and distant from the nine other homeless veterans on the trip. Rather than drop out, Greg faced his demons in the raft.<\/p>\n

\"Military<\/p>\n

Nature did its work. After several hours on the river, Greg felt at ease and was having a great time with his fellow vets, swimming and playing games. At the takeout point, a smiling Greg told the group how transformed he felt after experiencing the river and the outdoors in a different light.<\/p>\n

Finding Peace<\/h4>\n

\u201cAt first, my head went back to where I had been on riverboats,\u201d he explained. \u201cThat fear came in as if it were yesterday. But once I met and began to talk to people, and got on the river, I came to understand that I was not on a gunboat. I was at peace.\u201d Read more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Military<\/p>\n

That\u2019s exactly the kind of result the Military Outdoors program aims for. It was created to improve access to and understanding of the outdoors for service members and their families, and it\u2019s helped 50,000 people so far. As Greg\u2019s experience showed, time spent outdoors can ease the difficulty faced by many veterans returning to civilian life. And as another vet served by the program remarked, \u201cThere is no better place to clear your mind than being in the great outdoors. If you can’t see the forest through<\/em> the trees, then get above the tree line.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Proof of that Premise<\/h4>\n

In fact, this idea is supported by new scientific research. In a related collaboration among the Sierra Club, REI and the University of California, Berkeley, researchers are documenting the biological and emotional effects of spending time outdoors. Known as The Great Outdoors Lab<\/a>, this effort is already finding that time spent outdoors increases curiosity and improves sleep and mental well-being. As the research continues, it will likely corroborate an idea REI\u00a0lives and breathes every day: Getting outside is good for you.<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019d been decades since Greg had been on a river, and his memories weren\u2019t good. During the Vietnam War he\u2019d been a river patrol boat gunner\u2014a hazardous job with high casualty rates. This past summer, however, he joined a whitewater rafting trip down California\u2019s American River as part of the Sierra Club\u2019s Military Outdoors program, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[461,2278,115,349,462,1421],"internal-tag":[1681],"class_list":["post-6131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-paddle","tag-joni-sensel","tag-nature-and-health","tag-nonprofit","tag-paddling","tag-sierra-club","tag-veterans","internal-tag-pre-redirect-paddling"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/paddle\/warriors-in-the-woods","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Warriors in the Woods","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/paddle\/warriors-in-the-woods","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/paddle\/warriors-in-the-woods"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/11\/Military-Outdoors-Paddle-web.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/11\/Military-Outdoors-Paddle-web.jpg?fit=1500%2C996"},"articleSection":"Paddle","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Angela Crampton"}],"creator":["Angela Crampton"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["joni sensel","nature and health","nonprofits","paddling","sierra club","veterans"],"dateCreated":"2015-11-11T15:00:07Z","datePublished":"2015-11-11T15:00:07Z","dateModified":"2024-09-26T19:54:46Z"},"rendered":"