What is FGH?
Fit.Green.Happy. is the non-profit arm of Mountain Challenge, an organization that provides high-quality and safe outdoor experiences designed to change the world for the better, one person at a time. Their social responsibility efforts are now entirely devoted to providing education, access, and resources to help people get fitter, greener, and happier. That meant concentrating Fit.Green.Happy® into its own entity with its own focus, separate and apart from Mountain Challenge. Read below to learn more about FGH.
FIT
To be truthful, we never thought fitness or physical activity (or lack thereof) would become a vital component of our business. It’s just always been an undisputed part of our culture, not only because it keeps us in shape to do our job well, but also because we genuinely enjoy it. When groups began to have difficulty enjoying some of our more physically demanding tasks, it was time to open up the conversation. Physical fitness is intimidating. Or at least we’ve made it out to be until now. Fitness to us is enjoyable movement and no gym is required. It’s all about a more active life. Some days a run and yoga are what our bodies ask us for. Other days, it might be enough to just park a little further from the door when grocery shopping. However you move, we can’t ignore how good exercise is for our mental and physical health.
GREEN
Awareness of and attention to environmental sustainability has long been imperative to us. Hence, our commitments to reducing our environmental impact are earnest, notably bookmarked with our LEED® Gold certified headquarters. That we have a responsibility to both respect and protect the natural environment is so intuitive to us that it hardly seems necessary to address it explicitly. And yet, it bears repeating because our commitment to environmental stewardship not only directly affects our bottom line as a business, but our mission and principles also indisputably require it. We love the places where we work and play; that’s the easy part. When you love a place (or a person), then certain duties exist to ensure its care and keeping. That’s the hard part, but it’s a simple concept: We work outside. So if we want to continue to work, we need outside to be there. And in order for outside to be there, we have to take care of it.
GREEN x2
When outside we move faster and play harder. The benefits that, bare minimum, looking at trees through a window can provide has a major impact on our mental health. Nature immersion offers mood stabilization, returned focus and concentration time and immune system benefits. With rates of depression and anxiety rising in our country, why aren’t we bottling this?! Or at least prescribing it? Click here to read more about the benefits of being in nature and how the Outdoors is Medicine.
Happy
Being active, being outside and loving on our planet = happier people. Right? Well almost. We care a whole lot more about the actions we take to pursue a happier and more fulfilling life. This looks like taking moments to put your phone down and engage in real time, face-to-face conversations with those around you. This looks like getting serious about sleep and doing routines at night to help support that. This looks like making something tangible with your own two hands. This looks completely analog and completely 180 to the direction it seems like we’re all headed now. Slowing down in our country doesn’t usually hold value. But when it comes to creating happier, longer lives…we can’t help but disagree.
OUR PARTNERS
We’re excited to be embarking on some new projects in conjunction with the University of Tennessee, including their College of Social Work, Department of Tourism & Hospitality, Agriculture and its Green Economy initiative. Together we’ll explore the connections between fitness, environmental awareness, and how they interact to affect our overall well-being. Stay tuned for updates and cool happenings.
THEORIES, PROGRESS, AND PROGRAMS:
We want to better understand the connections between wellness, the outdoors, and happiness. Find out more about the Fit.Green.Happy initiative here.
Outline of mission for Fit. Green. Happy.®️
Fit. Green. Happy.®️: Collected Thoughts