The Recipe for Stoke
For us, the best parts of outdoor activities are connecting with nature, physical movement, fun, overcoming challenges and creating great memories with those around us in the process. The combination of these ingredients can have such a positive impact on our overall wellbeing. We call this the ‘recipe for stoke’ and it informs our approach to curating outdoor experiences.
Nature x Physical Movement x Fun x Challenge x Positive Group
1: Nature Time
The research into the benefits of time in nature is vast. This field has grown in recent times, in large part due to urbanisation and the increasing amount of time we are all spending indoors. The big questions being asked are to do with understanding what this disconnection with the natural world is doing to us and what health benefits increasing time in the outdoors can provide.
Overall, the research in this area indicates that being in the outdoors can boost our immune system, increase creativity, provide stress relief, improve our clarity of thought and outlook, and can help protect against mental illness.
These benefits are expanded when you combine nature time with physical exercise.
2: Physical Movement
The euphoric feeling we get after physical activity, often referred to as the ‘runner’s high’ is associated with a release of endorphins that leaves us feeling positive and energised. However, the benefits of movement extend so much beyond this.
Physical activity influences a wide range of brain chemicals that are linked with increased energy levels and reduced stress, anxiety and worry.
Chemicals released during exercise may also help to promote bonding with others - think high fives and hugs after a sporting match, the special kinds of talks we have while out on the trails or the long-term friendships that have formed around a shared physical activity.
Researchers are also looking at the way regular physical activity can help us be more receptive to joy and social connection.
3: Have Fun
Fun is an obvious one. It’s a universal human need. Fun puts us in a more restorative mental state by bringing us into the moment. It also helps us to connect with others, reduces stress and improves sleep. All of which benefit our mental and physical health dramatically. Fun also motivates us to persist regardless of setbacks and makes challenges more bearable.
4: Overcoming Challenges
Risk can be a tricky thing to explain but is a very important part of outdoor experiences. There is often a ‘reckless’ or ‘adrenaline junkie’ assumption associated with what motivates people to participate in adventure-based activities.
This may be a little accurate, but not entirely! Success in the outdoors requires constantly measuring and mitigating risk. It involves learning how to navigating risk safely.
The presence of risk (whether actual or perceived) forces us to be acutely aware of our own abilities and the way we are feeling on a particular day. It promotes intense focus that can pull us away from ruminations and unhealthy thought patterns and can help develop personal awareness and resilience.
Overcoming the physical and psychological challenges of undertaking an activity in a context where there is an element of risk is highly rewarding, promoting positive feelings and self esteem.
5: Positive Group Environment
Time in the outdoors is highly conducive to social bonding. There are so many contributors to this such as being in an improved mental state, a sense of relying on one another if something goes wrong and the joy of sharing exciting and novel experiences.
Outdoor experiences can act as a catalyst for connection, promoting the extensive benefits that come from positive social and community participation.