Mindful On Greylock

By Patricia Racine

January/February 2026

We are surrounded by some wonderful state forests here in the Berkshires, but none can hold a candle to Mount Greylock State Forest. Not only does this park have the highest peak in Massachusetts but also an elaborate schedule of nature-related educational programs throughout the year. A few years back I participated in a group hike on the mountain.

I was doing most of my hiking solo due to having only weekdays off, so when I saw the schedule for the Mount Greylock events, I was very interested and signed up for the Winter Solstice Mindfulness Hike. The little blurb stated that participants would hike about a mile up the mountain from the visitor’s center enjoying the beauty of the forest in winter before descending and participating in the candlelight Solstice Festival. Sounds like an interesting way to spend an afternoon, right? 

We were a group of about 25, mostly middle-aged women with two or three younger men, and two group leaders from Kripalu. At that point I realized that I was not in my comfort zone. We were asked to make a circle and started some breathing exercises and gentle stretches; generally, I am a trunk- slammer type of hiker: I pull into the parking area, grab my bag and pole and hit the trail. After about 15 minutes of this “cleansing” portion of the hike, we set off on the trail.

Now, I love Mount Greylock, it is one of my favorite places to hike because it is absolutely beautiful, and this day was no different. We had a perfect day, it wasn’t too cold, we had plenty of sunshine, the mountain was quiet, and the trail had already been broken. As we were walking, the leaders spoke about "forest bathing" and being mindful about our relationship with nature; I’m down with those things, but when she encouraged us to hug trees, I had an overwhelming urge to run back down to my car. The only time I hugged a tree was when I grabbed one to break a fall. I enjoy, respect and revere nature and our green spaces but I don’t ever feel the need to hug a tree. Anyway, we kept climbing the mountain until we reached a creek crossing when the leaders stopped us and we did a twenty-minute meditation portion before heading back down.

I have tried to meditate but it’s not really easy for me to do. I can’t shut my mind off, so I just took this time to observe my surroundings. That only lasted for so long when I started observing the other hikers; one of the young men was down by the creek taking his boots and socks off to wade into the water, while the rest were just sitting or lying down in the snow meditating. That was the longest twenty minutes of my life and when the leader broke the quiet, I was ready to get out of there.

We went back down the mountain a lot quicker, and I made sure to be at the front of the pack so I could get to my car quickly. Unfortunately, that backfired and the leader asked me to take everyone to a picnic table for a discussion session. What the …? We had to stand in a circle again with some funky tasting tea and discuss what we felt up there, and if we were comfortable doing that. One lady said she didn’t have words to express what she felt but shared the sounds she was feeling and then proceeded to make noises like a didgeridoo. The moment we were released, I ran for my car and sped out of the parking lot; no more Kripalu-led group hikes for me! There is a Winter Solstice Festival of Lights Walk this year that caught my eye and I hope it’s not one of those uncomfortable-for-me hikes.