Author Anne Wall promotes benefits of nature immersion in new book

We already know it’s good for us. But going outside may be more than instinctive. There’s a reason we feel so good when we’re moving our bodies in the waters and hills outside, and breathing in the fresh air. 

And a Summit resident and multi-sport amateur athlete has self-published a book to help explain it. 

Anne Wall, who worked for the Olympics and Paralympics, was like so many of us 2½ years ago: When the pandemic shut things down in the spring of 2020, she went outside. And felt better for it. 

“I knew I felt good, I knew I felt energized. I didn’t understand the cascade of neuro chemicals that were being given off,” Wall said. “Even just sitting by the water’s edge allows us to relieve some of the stress that we might have been carrying.

“Whether you’re doing moving meditation, sight active silence, sports engagement, or whether you’re simply practicing mindfulness through stillness and nature – all of those things are health-promoting.” 

For that reason, Wall wants us to continue paddling, biking and trekking outside. 

Wall was born in Milwaukee and now splits her residence between Summit and Utah. She was a board member of the Pettit National Ice Center (serving two terms on the board of directors at Pettit Center from 2013-’19) and spent most of her business career in branding and sports marketing with the Olympic and Paralympic movements. She was an Olympic torchbearer and a brand protection manager for the 2002 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, and she also worked at the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing.