By The Green Parent
31st January 2018
January can get a little wearing when every shop you go in has diet books and fitness equipment hanging from the shelves, and magazines screaming that it’s time for the ‘new you’. It’s hard not to get caught up in the frenzy of self-improvement and let January become a month of self-flagellation, full of ‘shoulds’: Should exercise more; should eat less of this and more of that; should make more of an effort. Keeping fit can become another thing we feel we have to do in an already busy schedule.
Let’s face it, ‘keeping fit’ is a bit of a ridiculous phrase anyway. Separating out time to go to the gym just shows how compartmentalised our lives have become, when keeping fit and active is far better integrated into our daily activities. Walking our children to school, or taking a stroll through nature, is a far better use of our time than a bums and tums class.
A healthy and active lifestyle is one that engages all our senses and makes us feel energised and bursting with life. Rather than slogging away on a treadmill, keeping the mind active when you’re exercising makes it about one hundred times more interesting, as does being outdoors connecting with the elements and world around us. We’ve compiled five interesting and fun activities to get you out and about and feeling ALIVE!
CLIMB TREES Remember those days of scrambling up trees as a youngster? Nothing beats the sense of achievement and thrill of sitting high up in the branches of a majestic tree, and the views are a major plus too. Find out more about tree climbing at the Global Organisation of Tree Climbers, or get expert help and advice from tree climbers Goodleaf.
THE GREEN GYM The Conservation Volunteers Green Gym is a scheme which inspires you to improve both your health and the environment at the same time. Experienced leaders guide you through a range of practical projects, giving you the opportunity to tackle physical jobs in the outdoors - improving your strength and stamina, boosting your practical skills and confidence and benefiting your local green spaces. Find out more here.
ORIENTEERING Orienteering is a challenging outdoor adventure sport that exercises both the mind and the body. The aim is to navigate in sequence between control points marked on a unique orienteering map and decide the best route to complete the course in the quickest time. It can take place anywhere from remote forest and countryside to urban parks and school playgrounds. It’s a great sport for runners, joggers and walkers who want to improve their navigation skills or for anyone who loves the outdoors. You can either join an orienteering group, or you could set your own orienteering course with your family as a fun way to keep fit and find out about navigation!
COASTEERING Seeing as we live on an island with some of the most diverse and breath-taking coastline, if you live anywhere near the sea coasteering could be the fun- and adrenalin-packed activity for you. Teenagers will delight in this new activity too! Coasteering is a mixture of swimming, climbing, scrambling, and traversing the coastline. When it is safe to do so coasteering also allows you to jump into the sea from height. Not only will you get to explore areas of the coast that you would never normally see, you’ll grow in confidence and strength. Check out coasteering.org for more information, or try it out with experts in dramatic Pembrokeshire.
WILD SWIMMING Okay, maybe not the time of year yet for wild swimming but you might like to start looking for places in your locality where you can take the plunge when it’s a little warmer… Robert MacFarlane’s beautiful book Waterlog: A Swimmer’s Journey Through Britain is an inspiring place to get started and will have you dusting off your swimming costume in no time. The Outdoor Swimming Society’s website has lots of tips and advice, and you can get further inspired at www.wildswimming.co.uk where you can also get copies of Daniel Start’s book Wild Swimming: 150 Hidden Dips in the Rivers, Lakes and Waterfalls of Britain.
