After my last week’s post focussing primarily on kayaking, I decided to do some research about an outdoor activity that I have not experienced as often. Kayaking is by far my favourite outdoor activity in addition to snowboarding, camping, hiking and basic trail exploring for various reasons. I believe that kayaking targets muscle strengthen in addition to enabling a calm mindset in the relaxing environment of the ocean. Snowboarding enables individuals to practice physical activity in the winter, as well as boosting mental health by exploring the mountain in a different setting such as snow. Camping and hiking enable individuals to explore the outdoors in forests and explore nature’s beautiful scenery. Hiking provides individuals with a challenging task to complete to reach the top which can distract a mindset away from day to day tasks. Furthermore, in addition to these activities, there many more outdoor activities that can benefit an individuals physical and mental health. For example, this past summer I learnt how to wake surf up at Shawinigan Lake. I have not participated in many water sport activities before other than tubing, but I wanted to try a physical water sport. Snowboarding and hiking provides diversity to the outdoors in certain seasons, and the summer is a great time to try water sports. Since the weather is so hot and humid in summers, it can be tiring and too hot to hike in the direct sunlight. Therefore, water sports promote diversity to outdoor activities by engaging with the ocean or lake. I think that wake surfing is one of the easier water sports to learn. Wake boarding or wake skiing can be especially difficult because your feet have to be strapped into a board or ski, which can also be dangerous for first time learners or those uneasy and nervous towards trying. With wake surfing, you rest your feet on the board while holding the rope and let the pull of the rope from the boat raise you up and gradually lift your feet onto the board. Wake surf immensely targets arm muscles from the pull of the rope, leg muscles from pushing yourself up onto the board, as well as core muscles once you are riding to stay balanced. It also provides a challenge to the mind and once you can successfully get up and start wake surfing, it is an amazing experience that can boost your mood. Riding the waves and feeling the spray of the ocean water is an amazing feeling in the heat of summer. It is a great way to involve yourself in a summer activity while simultaneously boosting your mood and alleviate any stressful thoughts. I hope that this summer I am able to practice my wake surfing skills again to continue to improve and push myself.

Additional Resources: The below resources are links that I came across while researching the benefits of outdoor activities boosting mental health and improving physical health for individuals.

5 Physical and Mental Health Benefits of Water Sports

Most Common Benefits of Water Sports on Mental and Physical Health