By Richard Harpham
Modern life is sometimes overwhelming with fast pace, digital overload and little downtime. For most of us within the paddling community the perfect antidote is to head to the woods and wild areas and escape outdoors.
Richard Harpham bio
Richard has become a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society.
Richard is a human powered adventurer and inspirational speaker who has completed over 10,000 miles of expeditions by kayak, canoe, bike and on foot including exploring the Yukon, cycling the Sahara and Canada’s Inside Passage.
At home he runs www.canoetrail.co.uk, a watersports and adventure business with his wife Ashley in Bedfordshire providing qualifications, canoe camping, coaching and paddling trips to some of the UK’s and world’s best locations. He is the former editor of Bushcraft and Survival Magazine and writes for Outdoor Adventure Guide, MoD’s Resettlement magazine and the Paddler magazine.
His adventures are supported by: Flint Group, Paramo Clothing, Olympus Cameras, Valley Sea Kayaks, Silverbirch Canoes, Bamboo Clothing, MSR, Canadian Affair, Osprey Rucksacks, Extreme Adventure Foods, Air North, Reed Chillcheater and Exposure Lights. You can follow his adventures through social media & @ www.richadventure.com
Finding your peace in the outdoors
In this article I want to explore some of the ideas behind this recent phenomenon of ‘rewilding’ (and link to our ancestors) and share my eclectic experience. First and foremost, I need the outdoors, it allows me to tame my manic and driven nature without which I have a tendency to self destruct, failing to balance personal needs and family life alongside the pressures of life, work and a deluge of ideas and goals.
A quick disclaimer: I am not a qualified mental health professional but ran a mental health programme for five years under the government’s TaMHS pilot (Targeted Mental Health Service) for young people. The core objectives were to
- raise awareness of mental health and remove stigma,
- build capacity to support young people and
- improve mental health through interventions.
Prevalent issues identified by the teachers included low self esteem, increased anxiety and stress, lack of positive role models, poor sleep patterns, digital overload and a rise in vulnerable learners. To combat this we created an award winning social enterprise, www.inspiredlife.org, which offered structured outdoor programmes, positive role models, life coaching for young people and mental health resources. We developed resources and experiential activities, which mapped goals, plans and targets and built a new language of emotional literacy. How am I feeling? What makes me feel good? How do I deal with loss and rejection?
These days we deliver a new format called Adventure School using our adventure business Canoe Trail to deliver structured outdoor activities with well-being and life skills embedded. It is ‘learning by stealth’ – the outdoors providing an uncluttered space to develop new ideas, challenge and develop resilience. I can remember one young man called David with a difficult school life commenting, “This is the best bloody thing I have ever done” after a canoeing session and cooking food on the river bank.
The programmes delivered a measured 23.8% improvement in adolescent well-being, a NHS ‘well-being’ scale. Expanding our comfort zone and using outdoors is something that Dartmoor Zoological Park’s Benjamin Mee (We Bought a Zoo), has embraced using his park and animals to work with military veterans suffering from PTSD. From a mental health perspective, there is science behind why outdoor activities makes us feel better and improves our well-being which is explored later on.
There is a lot written about mindfulness at the moment. One key aspect of this is being ‘present’ in the moment, as opposed to scanning a phone or checking messages. Part of this is to change thought patterns to not only being mindful of what you are doing but also where you are doing it. Connecting to your environment and natural world is the gift that keeps on giving. I have recently returned from a three-day paddle with a Duke of Edinburgh group on the River Great Ouse. We were treated to kingfishers flitting, cormorants drying, otters playing, seals sunbathing and even some owls hunting. Once you switch off from the other distractions then this becomes an addictive and rewarding quest boosting the ‘feel good factors’.
Natural light itself has a proven scientific basis for helping us feel better. Sunlight and darkness trigger the release of hormones in your brain. Exposure to sunlight increases the brain’s release of a hormone called Serotonin. Serotonin is associated with boosting mood and helping a person feel calm and focused (it also reduces the SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) effect. At night, darker lighting triggers the brain to make another hormone called Melatonin. This hormone is responsible for helping you sleep. Blue light and screens are thought to suppress the release of these hormones and also potentially damage eyesight.
Another element of the science behind why spending time in the outdoors feels good, is boosting endorphins, the ‘happy hormone’. Walking, canoeing, kayaking, swimming and camp chores all offer the body a chance to release endorphins. Endorphin release is associated with ‘runners high’ where there is a sense of joy and elation whilst doing an activity. Be aware you need some exertion to release endorphins to the euphoric level!
Being grounded is something we recognise subconsciously with a sense of peace, relaxing into our natural surroundings as we paddle, hike or wade. Of course being off screen time helps reduce our mental fatigue. There are many initiatives and projects helping to encourage more time outdoors including Forest Schools, Project Wild Thing and of course the Green Gym.
Surrounding all of us are a myriad of green and blue spaces including cycle routes, footpaths, rivers, lakes and canals. Top tip is to purchase a paper Ordnance Survey Explorer map and explore your local area (it’s so much more revealing than digital to find local sites to explore and also to make notes). This mini project will definitely feed the soul and connect you to your local wildlife. Don’t forget that we need to log and submit ancient footpaths and rights of way by 2026. (see Ramblers Don’t Lose Your Way).
The Song of the Paddle concept was promoted through the work of the late Bill Mason, canoeist, guide and environmentalist. His lifetime of exploring led to a mastery of the art of paddling. I love the feeling of knifing the paddle back to the start of the stroke, ‘making the catch’. You can tune into the song of the blade doing its work. The paddle slicing elegantly through the water equally transfers nicely to ‘feeling grounded’. It connects us to our happy place and we can exist in the moment.
There are plenty of ways to immerse yourself in nature to restore energy, boost your well-being and promote good mental health. Here are a few of my favourite ways to recharge my batteries…
Outdoor and cold water swimming
Outdoor swimming is one of the best trends to re-emerge after we lost so many lidos and outdoor pools. The resurgence has been astonishing as people have enjoyed taking a dip in the sea, lakes, and local rivers. Cold water swimming leaves you with a positive tingle and glow as you send your blood pumping around generating that feeling of ‘I’m alive’. Of course as paddlers we can access secluded pools and beach spots. There is an odd juxtaposition as paddlers in that we try to stay in the craft rather than embracing the water and swimming at regular opportunities. I now make this part of my plans to swim in secluded pools, tarns and river locations.
Go paddling by kayak, canoe or SUP
Find your song of the paddle by getting out onto a river, lake or canal. Avoid deadlines and mobile phone calls to enjoy the gentle ripples, splashes and reflections that make this pastime so invigorating. Beware of inertia preventing you from paddling, wrong kit, dark, bad weather and other such mind bending agendas diminish your outdoor time and happiness. Keep a SUP in the boot, phone a friend, and make time to paddle, One of the reasons I love the DW (Devizes to Westminster Race) is that it requires training throughout the winter what ever the weather and conditions.
Go bare feet
Getting my toes onto cool grass, warm sand or wading in the sea or a river is a small slice of paradise. I believe it must link to the same synapses and energy lines that reflexology unlocks. Go for it, whilst waiting for a shuttle or at a lunch stop or rest, whip off your socks and flex your toes in the water.
Sit Spots
Sit spots have been highlighted in the world of bushcraft over many years as a great way to let nature come to you. For me there is an acceptance that I am shut off from other distractions. I believe there is a trade-off where you tune in with your senses and in return are accepted by the wildlife and nature at large.
Forest Bathing
Forest Bathing is spending time in a forest to reduce stress and feel a sense of wellbeing. It originated in Japan, where it is called shinrin-yoku, and it is now one of the cornerstones of Japanese healthcare. Spending time camping in our woodland, campfires, cooking and relaxing with friends is my spiritual boost. Increasingly I have found it hard to adjust to the pace of modern life in contrast to the two months a year I spend in the wilderness on expedition, in woodlands and on river banks wild camping.
Connecting with nature
A 2016 report undertaken by Natural England and mental health charity Mind focused on three main green care initiatives to help support people struggling with mental health issues (care farming, environmental conservation and therapeutic horticulture), They concluded that these interventions helped lessen symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression, here are a few ideas:
- Grow and pick your own food
- Foraging
- Take nature photographs
- Listen to nature’s sounds
- Beach combing
- Follow a trail
- Build animal habitats
- Litter picks and conservation
- Bird watching and animal tracking
- Pet sitting or dog walking
- Sleep under the stars
So many of these fit into or alongside our paddling and outdoor activities which is part of why we love them so much.
Risk and resilience model
It is worth understanding the different factors that affect our mental health and in particular whether we feel positive mental health or negative. It is perfectly normal to experience bad moods, anger and low points as part of our emotions. If we are exposed to multiple stressors, triggers, energy drains and increased risk factors it obviously causes a deterioration in our well-being. This can range from feeling anxiety, to mental distress through to severe and enduring mental health problems.
The good news is that we can start to work on our resilience factors, which can be viewed as self-resilience, our support network and our wider environment. Of course the old adage if we always do the same thing we will always get the same result may apply. There are plenty of examples where people have changed from a high stress work place or toxic relationship to improve well-being and happiness.
Examining your support network is helpful and investing time and energy into positive relationships sounds obvious but sometimes we need to change the dynamic. Joining a canoe and kayak club, outdoor or bushcraft group or spending more time with friends and family can be a game changer providing a peer group and motivation to do more. Similarly a focus for a goal (new skill or craft) or trip (expedition) can help build positive outcomes.
Self-efficacy reflects our confidence in the ability to exert control over our own motivation, behaviour, and social environment by completing tasks, goals and achieving a sense of control and resilience. Paddling skills and outdoor challenges fits perfectly with this.
Outdoor hierarchy of Needs
Maslow’s Hierachy of Needs offers a model to explain factors that build to a level of self actualisation – being the best we can be. The outdoors offers a clear and pure environment to develop these elements, resilience and self awareness without distraction. This is why we use outdoor activities to stretch comfort zones, build life skills and adopt new mindsets. The hierarchy model is often shown as a pyramid with stages, phycological needs (water, shelter, food, warmth) safety needs (financial, security, health), love and belonging (friendships, family and groups), self esteem, building to self actualisation. This helps explain group dynamics as to why we feel more or less comfortable in different environments and situations. Joining expeditions and courses helps to short cut this process by learning from others and providing a framework to get outdoors.
If you are struggling then ‘Talk to Someone’
According to Mind, one of four of us will experience a mental health problem in a year and one in six of us will experience this within a given month. General trends also suggest with issues around money, jobs and social/digital media have made it harder to cope with the problems. The good news is you don’t have to quit your job and run naked into the wilderness – unless you want to! Making small changes and marginal gains will help provide a balance and increased happiness. Plan some small tweaks and new goals to begin to change habits and you will start to see and feel the difference.
One of the key aspects of mental health guidance is to talk to someone. It is not prescriptive who to talk to – it could be your GP, a friend, family member or someone more distant such as Samaritans. Taking to someone is the first step to feeling better.
Online resources and support can be found at: The Mental Health Charity www.mind.org.uk and the Samaritans, a charity providing emotional support to people in crisis www.samaritans.org
I hope you have found this article affirming and useful with some evidence and trends behind why paddling, bushcraft and the wider world of outdoor activities is good for us especially with the pressures of modern life.
Happy Trails
