Mental Health: Outside With Mom

Being outside with my mom is awesome for my mental health. Whether we go out on adventures just the two of us or we go as a whole family, it’s important to be surrounded by family members who bring out the best in you. My mom and I feel our happiest when we are outdoors experiencing different activities. Some activities include hiking or backpacking in the mountains while other activities include swimming, and spending time with our extended family breathing fresh air out in nature far away from the city. Being outside with my mom is a great opportunity to discuss multiple things in French and practice our native tongue. When was the last time you dedicated some time with your mom doing something you both love to do together?

Change Your Thoughts

It’s so important to take care of your mental health. By hiking in the mountains on one of the 4 Best Larch Hikes it helps to change your thoughts from the everyday routine. My mental health benefits immensely when I’m outside with my mom. We were at Little Arethusa Peak in this picture. This is a gorgeous hike to see the larches turn into a golden yellow in the fall. This area offers so many views of the spectacular scenery that surrounds hikers in multiple directions. The vistas, the beautiful weather and the wonderful temperatures stimulated fantastic conversations between my mom and I. We summited to the top of the peak by hiking up a scree slope.

Tip: When doing a strenuous hike, ensure you have proper hiking footwear to avoid rolling an ankle. The trail can feel steep at times with many loose rocks as one climbs or descends. Select good footing when hiking in this area. It helps to stay on the dedicated path.

Unique Lunch Spot

It’s a tight spot at the top of Little Arethusa Peak but if you time it well in between hikers, it’s possible to eat lunch with your family away from other hikers and be protected by the wind. It’s a gorgeous location as hikers can see into different valleys in all directions. It creates a unique lunch spot.

Layers

Every hike offers new scenery, experiences and challenges to complete it. Each difficulty is linked to a reward when you’ve completed the hike and feel accomplished. If you’re hiking high up in the mountains, bring additional layers such as Arc’teryx Covert Cardigan to keep you warm from the cold and the wind. You never know when the wind will pick up and conditions often change rapidly. A windbreaker is an excellent idea as well to protect you not only from the wind but the potential rain or snow that could develop higher up the mountain.

Fresh Air

There’s no better feeling than breathing in the fresh clean air of the mountains away from the city where you might live. I often try to hike with my parents when I head to Calgary. I like getting the opportunity to witness the views and evaluate my fitness conditioning. Hiking around Edmonton is nice too with our hills and lakes and is much appreciated when time is limited, but it does not require the same amount of energy as one expends while going straight up a mountain. Wherever you decide to go, bring your mom outside with you to help you focus on your positive mental health. My mom always sees the good in everything and when I’m not in the most positive mood, she helps me get back on track. Sometimes we need reminders to appreciate what we have and to be mindful by living in the moment instead of worrying about all the million little things that occupy our brains.

For more adventures in the mountains, check out Jasper Hikes: Best Memories. There are always plenty more hikes to explore around where you live. The key is to make an effort to seek them out and go on an adventure with your mom if you have that option available to you to discover new places.

Visit Family

What better way to have good mental health than to visit my family? This trip included visiting with my mom, dad and grandparents. We spent a lot of time outside swimming, kayaking, walking and then playing cards at night. When you spend time with people you love, there can be smiles all around as seen in the picture above. My family rejuvenates me with laughter, support and by sharing stories. On this trip, it gave us an opportunity to practice our French and recall words I haven’t used in a while but wish I could use more often.

Good for Your Mental Health

The smiles say it all. If I’m smiling, then you know I’m having a good time and appreciating the fact that I’m outdoors for my mental health. Being outside makes me feel rejuvenated, full of energy breathing in fresh clean air while experiencing lovely conversations with my family, including my mom. If you venture outside, your brain will appreciate stepping away from a computer and seeing a beautiful view instead of a computer screen. The outdoors allows me to think more clearly, to be more appreciative of the world we live in and not take for granted what we are offered in our beautiful province.

Good for Your Physical Health

While outside, breathing in and filling your lungs with air and exhaling to let it all go feels so refreshing. Rinse and repeat as you’re progressing straight or walking up a hill somewhere in nature can make you appreciate that you’re healthy enough to be able to accomplish this with your mom. If you’re lucky enough, you’ll have the whole family with you by your side partaking in different conversations during the day. New topics will come up as you keep walking and see different scenery or animals that you come across. It feels good to be alive when you’re outside in nature surrounded by awesome people. Your happiness meter skyrockets with new places to explore, a chance to get out of the city, see people again and get some exercise.

Different Activities

There are so many different activities to choose from when going outside with your mom for your mental health. Pick something you both enjoy and do it together. This can be on Mother’s Day or any other time of the year when you need some quality time together.

Folk Festival Edmonton

My mom and I were at the Folk Festival in Edmonton in the first picture. This festival is a great opportunity to seek different artists you like by going to the smaller stages during the day and enjoying the big performances on the big hill at Gallagher Park in the evening. There is a variety of food and treats to purchase and eat all day or for the entire four-day festival. You can choose to bring your own food and drinks for healthy choices, avoid lineups and save money. Be prepared for changing weather. We’ve experienced the hot sun as well as pouring rain while attending the folk festival. Here are 10 Tips to Avoid Sunburn. If you do get sunburnt, here are 8 Tips to Treat a Sunburn. I’ve almost suffered from heat exhaustion on the hill so be prepared to avoid getting sick by covering up and possibly using an umbrella to provide shade.

Sylvan Lake

My parents and I often meet at Sylvan Lake. It’s a great place that is halfway between our two houses. It offers a great place to reconnect during the summer months, have conversations, have a picnic and go swimming. There are also opportunities to play mini golf and we’ve even eaten ice cream at Big Moo Ice Cream Parlour. That’s a great way to finish the day before heading back home! It’s also a nice way to cool off.

Walk in Fish Creek Park

Fish Creek Park in Calgary offers beautiful areas to walk along Fish Creek and the Bow River and get some exercise with my parents. It’s a great way to spend Mother’s Day exercising and getting the whole family outside. This area makes for a relatively easy walk with a few hills but nothing major compared to heading up a mountain. It’s also sometimes pleasant to spend quality time together without having to drive very far.

Tip: If you have to drive home after your walk, you might want to consider a destination close to your current location. This is to eliminate extra driving and potential over-tiredness by the end of the day.

Gorgeous Scenery

This attractive shot was taken at Sunshine Meadows. There are so many places to see beautiful scenery and this place is no exception. It’s possible to hike a long way from the top of Sunshine Village and even go swimming in the lake at the bottom of the valley if you’re feeling hot and need a quick cool down.

Tip: The water will most likely be cold so keep that in mind when going for a quick dip.

This lovely area is wonderful for your mental health and an awesome choice to be outside with your mom.

Take Beautiful Pictures

If you love to take pictures, being surrounded by gorgeous scenery is always a win. There are various photo opportunities with so many different angles with changing light based on the clouds and the direction of the sun. It’s always fun to see new views and occasions for more pictures. Consider including your mom in a picture with you or photographing your mom by herself. If you see an animal with a beautiful mountain backdrop, it could also make for a great picture. If you explore Sunshine Meadows in July, a variety of wildflowers in this area will help create a beautiful close-up or they can be used as an accent to your mountain background.

Explore Backcountry Wilderness

The backcountry is a great opportunity to connect with your family. Backpacking Poboktan Trail Successfully brought us closer as we dealt with unexpected snow high up in the mountains. We had to navigate through it to get to our campsite as well as find some empty space to set up camp in the midst of a snow-covered campground. My dad thought we might need to turn around while Kris and my mom convinced us to continue moving forward when we encountered lots of deadfall across the trail early on our adventure.

Focus on what you’ve accomplished before turning around. If we had gone back, we would have had to find a last-minute backcountry campsite to book. Turning around would have delayed us for hours and we might have had trouble finding an alternate destination to camp.

Tip: Surround yourself with people that will keep you moving forward and focus on the positive in each situation. We had the whole family encouraging each other to keep going and to figure it out together on our way to the campsite.

Final Thoughts

Do you feel like you need a mental health boost and to spend quality time outside with your mom? There are so many opportunities to discover new places and feel great about yourself mentally and physically while exploring new places close to you or further away from home with your family, including your mom. Being outside in nature changes your thought patterns, and makes you value life in that moment, as well as appreciate the health that is allowing you to hike as far as you’d like. There are so many opportunities to partake in different activities together. Decide what you both would like to spend your time doing and make a plan for it to happen. It could be a different activity than mentioned above but your body will appreciate something outdoors by breathing in the fresh air to feel fantastic again. So what will you do with your mom? Go for a picnic? A hike? The choice of adventure is yours. Have fun!