Let’s start with the reminder of the definition that drives this portion of the blog; Environmental wellness is having good health by occupying pleasant, stimulating environments that support well-being. Essentially the health benefits of positively interacting with nature.
Needless to say, as you can see in this pic there was no shortage of natural interaction. In Jan 2023, we were headed to Detroit to hang with family friends. My Son said “Mom I’ve always wanted take a snowboarding class. Can we try it while we’re there?”. Cue the panic, fear, and doom music as I uttered the next words… “ sure Son I’ll try it with you”. Over the next several weeks we researched renting gear, watched videos of epic tumbles, and booked a 3 hr lesson.
If anyone’s ever been to Detroit in January, let’s just say chill and ice were on the menu. We parked and began our trek to meet a very bubbly (and patient) Instructor. As she went over directions and things to know…. fear gripped me as I imagined the “don’ts” that could happen. I repeated to myself the words my colleagues said before I signed out of work that past week“good luck…. DON’T break a leg”. 😂
Let’s pause for a sec, I blog about wellness. I’ve read the research and knew despite my fear, why this moment mattered:
- As a weight-bearing exercise, snowboarding strengthens your bones and tones your muscles. help you maintain a healthy body weight.
- Cardiovascular or aerobic exercises like snowboarding works to reduce your risk for chronic diseases, and lower blood pressure.
- Through regular aerobic exercise like skiing and snowboarding, you lower your risk of developing conditions like diabetes and heart disease, having a stroke, and perhaps even getting cancer.
- Weight bearing exercises can improves sleep and circulation.
- Lastly and most importantly for me outdoor exercise stimulates all five senses in a way that indoor activities cannot.
So back to my heart stopping moment…. by fall #3, my Son is gliding past me (of course he caught on quickly) and I become resolute to quit. This was just too hard, too cold, and I just didn’t want to try anymore. In that moment I thought about the “risk of failing”…… how another fall and failure wouldn’t amount to anything more than getting closer to gliding. With a laugh and a new vibe I finally (10th try!!) glided down the bunny hill.
My advice is not the cliche “get back up”. But rather in the words of Ms. O “the true meaning of courage is to be afraid, and then, with your knees knocking and your heart racing, to step out anyway—even when that step makes sense to nobody but you”. I think about this moment often, when times are tough true courage is being willing to take the risk of failure. Who knows… perhaps you may just succeed. Or in my case…GLIDE!
Take care,
J
Resources: https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?contenttypeid=1&contentid=4519; https://myfcph.org/benefits-of-being-outdoors-and-physical-activity/
