Mindset is a crucial part of outdoor sport. Growth depends on both physical and mental fitness. Building a better mindset not only helps you to progress in your chosen outdoor pursuits, but it also allows you to navigate the struggles, disappointments, successes, and failures that come with outdoor experiences. Although we spend significant time talking about mindset, sometimes it’s hard to get a handle on concrete ways to improve your mental fitness and build a better outlook. Here are a few takes on bettering your mindset in outdoor sports; some tips, strategies, and ideas to help get you and your outdoor community thinking about a positive and effective mental state during your outside time.

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Trail awareness is understanding what’s happening with a certain trail and how it is forming our perception of that trail. Almost all of us have had the experience of using a trail and not giving it a second thought. What follows are some questions to get you to tune in the next time you’re out on your local trails. The idea here is not to judge or rank your trails, but rather, just observe, pay attention, and see what you can learn.

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When doubt creeps in we all appreciate seeing the trail marker or having a heads up about the hazards we might encounter. Reassurance can help us overcome the barriers that fear presents. Right now, it’s hard to feel that reassurance as schools go back in and we enter a new season. If there’s one thing that the outdoors and outdoor sport can teach us, though, it’s how to work with discomfort, fear, and exploring the unknown.

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In our typically-comfortable lives we don’t regularly experience what it’s like to try something that feels scary (in fact, we usually try to avoid it). Biking through the woods, paddling a rapid, or skiing down a hill can carry with it a sense of physical threat that brings on emotions we aren’t used to processing. This means fear, especially in a new environment, might actually present as something else we’re more familiar with such as agitation, feeling sick, or even indifference.

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We like to think of outdoor sports as being the kind of activities that get us outside playing as well. I’m guessing it’s rare though that many of us find ourselves paddling, skiing, or running around with the kind of joyful abandon this little girl was displaying. Why is that?

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Getting out for a bike ride, hike, or paddle doesn’t have to be strenuous or terrifying. In fact, we’ll often do more to improve at outdoor sport for ourselves and successfully engage others if we think about maximizing play. Head to the pump track, play tag in your kayak, or set up a silly obstacle course or scavenger hunt. It’s time to have some fun.

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Many of us think of the outdoors as a safe haven. It’s a place we can escape to, a place we can regain balance and find perspective. It’s comforting to think that the natural world is a place untainted by inequality, politics, and societal conflict.

Except, of course, that’s not true.

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The good news is that we still can get outside under the circumstances, keeping a few easy recommendations in mind. We’re navigating this “new” normal in the outdoors with you. We’ve been reading the research, staying up-to-date as guidelines change, and developing plans for how best to help you get outside.

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Since our world changed several weeks ago, like many of you, I haven’t been out doing the things I normally do. Outdoor sports might seem fundamentally okay in times like these, but there are good reasons not to go about our normal routine. Not to mention it’s springtime in the northeast, and a mix of mud, snow, and rain make it a challenging time to tread lightly in the outdoor spaces we love.

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We held our first community activity, and no one came... Over the course of the summer we had 1 or two people show up to a few of our activities and clinics. The first few months were slow, and our enthusiasm was dropping. We started to think, maybe no one in this town is interested or ever will be.  I wanted so dearly to have people participating in our activities though. I wanted this to work for my community, so we began to brainstorm. Our group began to talk about ways we could get the word out…

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