Adventure Education Enhances Mental Health

With mounds of evidence in academia, no one can argue that spending time outdoors is good for our health and helps us connect with ourselves and with nature. 

So what exactly are the mental health benefits of acquiring adventure skills? 

7 Mental Health Benefits of Adventure Education

Research documenting the benefits of acquiring and honing adventure skills states that when we pair physical and mental challenges in the outdoors, we level up. Check out these benefits from Elisabet Kvarnstrom of BrightQuest: 

  1. Self-Efficacy Increases — When we persevere through a challenging task and master it, our confidence and perceived self-worth can get a bump.

  2. Anxiety Decreases

  3. We Become More Self-Aware

  4. Tolerance to Distress Increases

  5. Improved Problem-Solving Skills

  6. Physical Health Improves

  7. A Sharpened Mind-Body Connection

Going Deeper

Leadership and Communication Skills

Aside from the aforementioned benefits we get through adventure skill acquisition, we also get to hone our intrapersonal skills — crucial for becoming effective leaders. Learning adventure skills means working in teams and communicating effectively to accomplish a goal. 

From a mental health perspective, having strong interpersonal skills can increase our tolerance and understanding, improve our relationships, help us clear up conflicts better, lessen stress, and boost our overall joy.

When we learn to work in teams, share knowledge, and responsibilities, we strengthen our ability to work together harmoniously which affects our mental health in positive ways. 

Ecological Literacy Skills

“Environmental literacy encompasses experiences, understanding, and action. While knowledge and understanding are important components of environmentally literate citizens, the key is connecting what we know and what we do,” says MAEOE.

When we learn new adventure skills, we get more attuned to our environment and how its systems and cycles work. This in turn, and can help us make informed decisions on its behalf.

Our mental health gets a boost when we become more connected to nature and competent in environmental literacy. The process of putting more adventure skills in your toolbelt is definitely a means to that end! 

What are some examples of adventure skills? 

They can include the following plus more!

Land Navigation

Learn to use a map and compass. If you’re exploring out in the wilderness, this is one of the most important skills you can use. Sure, a trail to follow is usually obvious. But, there are times when the trail isn’t visible for a multitude of reasons.  The trail eroded. There’s leaf litter covering it. Snow blocks the trail from view.

Learning some basic navigation skills: triangulation, map & compass skills, and reading a topographical map can help you in the event you find yourself off the beaten path.  

Hiking

Walking seems pretty standard. Pretty straightforward. 🤭 But hiking isn’t simply walking. Learning how to hike can span from knowing what to wear and what to bring to plant identification and what to do when you encounter a bear.

Backcountry Living Skills

Heading out to the deep woods? These skills are crucial:

Wilderness Medicine

Hypothermia. Heat exhaustion. Cuts, punctures, broken bones. These plus more can happen while we are in the wilderness. Check out this excellent write-up of the most common medical issues that every hiker should know how to treat.

Aside from being suuuper fun, acquiring new outdoor adventure skills is good for our brains. All these benefits can lead to an increased quality of life by improving our mental health. Heck yeah to that!

See who our local providers of outdoor education are in Butte County.