5 Ways Hiking Can Boost Your Mood 

Here are 5 ways that hiking has boosted my mood, allowed me to escape my stress, and become stronger.

1. Hiking Connects Me To Others

One of my favorite thing about exploring outdoors is that it can bring anyone together for a fun time. I love to be the one who says, "let's go hiking this weekend," or plan road trips.

I encourage you to start being the one to prompt a hiking weekend. You'll see what I'm talking about.

Here we are hiking to the top of Angel's Landing in Zion National Park. This group of wonderful women LOVE adventures, and it makes hikes 1000x better. Enjoying yourself while on the trail is one of the best forms of self-care I can think of.

2. Hiking Moves My Body

Going up and down hills really gets the heart pumping. Your body can build up great strength and balance from hikes. Not only can hiking be a physical challenge, but it can also be relaxing. I know confusing, right. Depending on what you want out of the hike, you can choose to take it slow or fast, and you can choose the trails that fit how you want to move your body. I use the reviews section in AllTrails to see how hard or easy others think the trail was, then go from there.

Side note: I also like strength training in the gym for hiking. The type of exercise I do for my ACLR rehab aligns perfectly with how I prepared for a hike (I can share more about that later).

3. Hiking Has Brought Out My Adventurous Side

Exploring and seeing the world has brought so much adventure into my life. I haven't explored outside of the US yet (I will soon!), but I've already learned so much. As I visit new places, I need to learn about that place, acknowledge its history, and be respectful to others while I'm in their space.

4. Hiking Brings Me Joy

I look forward to going on hikes because I know three things. I'll get a good workout out of it, there'll be amazing views, and I'm outside doing something enjoyable, not inside being bored. Even the most strenuous hikes make me happy because I get my reward of a great view and love personally

accomplishing a challenging goal. You can set a goal and reach it all by completing one hike, then the next one, and so on.

5. Hiking Has Been My Mental Release

Hiking clears my mind and allows me to escape my stressors. Reflecting on hikes brings me to some of my greatest realizations.

Here's a little background. Ever since I have gone through an ACL surgery and rehab and now doing it all again, I realize that mental health around injured athletes is not talked about enough. Injuries are not just a physical challenge, but a mental one too. All of the hard work you put toward regaining your strength is coupled with stress, sadness, fear, progression, gains, power, and strength. PROGRESSION IS NOT LINEAR.

The ups and downs of rehab take so much work, physically and mentally. It can be draining not to move like you once could, and it can feel so isolating at times. Hiking pulled me through. It gave me something to look forward to. It gave me a reason to get stronger, along with wanting to get back to soccer. Other ways I coped when I couldn't hike yet included journaling, talking to others who understood, found other things to do outside of who I am as an athlete, i.e., hiking and blogging. I am taking the process in little steps because expecting a specific timeline won't allow me to focus on the here and now.

I want to start this conversation. It is important to talk about the mental side of our injuries. If you're up for it, leave a comment, and it can be about your own experience, or leave encouraging words for others who might need it.