Find your happy (sweaty) place

Breathe deeply. Open your eyes wide. Soak the flirtatious sunshine into your skin. Smile.

These were my mantras the other weekend when I experienced my first taste of B.C. snowboarding.

I moved to Vancouver in August and instantly felt a connection to the peaks towering in the north. Imagining the views and always telling myself that I’d get up there eventually, the days lingered on while stress, anxiety and homesickness rendered me practically captive in my apartment.

Fast forward six months and I have a renewed commitment to being to good to myself. For me, that means exercising.

Sunset on Cypress Mountain; photo by Shannon Dooling

I enjoy sweating. I enjoy feeling my pulse quicken and my breath become rhythmic. When this rhythm is in union with a beautiful, natural landscape I’m transported into a cloud of endorphins, far away from the daily toil.

Exercise can create a space void of judgement, stress or anxiety. When I’m snowboarding, my body converses with the mountain’s curves and my mind wanders into a dream of winter wonderland escapades. I know instinctually that this is good for me.

The intimate connection between my mind and my body becomes clear in these spaces. The healthy mind, healthy body connection is something that I know from my own personal experiences. New research also reinforces the important role that physical activity can play in fostering mental health and well being.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists in London describes this connection, explaining “the state of your mind affects your body,” and vice versa. The college offers an example of the cycle that so many of us struggle with everyday:

“You feel tired or depressed - so you do less - so you feel more tired or depressed - so you do even less and miss out on the things you enjoy.”

The research doesn’t suggest that everyone need set their sights on running a marathon or hiking Mt. Everest, but rather that everyone can do something to increase the amount of physical activity in their lives. Whether it’s walking to the grocery store instead of driving or taking the stairs instead of the elevator, the point is to get moving.

The B.C. Healthy Living Alliance is challenging British Columbians to build more active lifestyles. The alliance hopes to help residents achieve these goals by creating “supportive environments that nourish and enhance physical activity.”

Becoming more physically active can lessen depression, anxiety and tension. It can improve sleep patterns, self-esteem, concentration and productivity and perhaps most importantly, it can make people smile.