Microadventures and Mental Health

Take a moment to jot down a rough plan of how a typical week looks for you, include all the things you do from the moment you wake up, to the minute you go to bed. Make sure to include the weekend too. It doesn’t have to be exact, just a basic outline.

Next, write down how each of these activities make you feel. Perhaps consider your energy levels over the week too.

What do you notice about the different types of activities you wrote down?

Do you notice any themes of the emotions or feelings you wrote down?

When you imagine this week being the typical pattern for the next few weeks, or months, how does it make you feel right now?

I hope your timetable brings you a sense of purpose, accomplishment, and pleasure but the reality is usually not so thrilling. We are a busy bunch and there’s always a big pile of jobs to do. Tackling them can go one of a couple of ways, we can either dive in and be consumed by them or become overwhelmed and avoid them altogether. Whatever the approach, the outcome does not feel good.

For most adults, one of the things lacking in our weekly schedule is fun. Fun often gets forgotten about and when we are stuck on autopilot and it’s all about the jobs! We get stuck focusing on the wrong thing, believing jobs and to-do lists to be more important than everything else. Over time, this makes us feel flat, unenthusiastic, and exhausted!

One way to introduce more fun is through microadventures.

Microadventures are adventures but at a smaller, cheaper and more achievable scale. They are adventures that can happen right outside your front door.  Alastair Humphries (Microadventures (alastairhumphreys.com) talks about making adventure accessible without the need for loads of equipment and experience. He encourages us to shift our focus away from the 9am to 5pm and think more about what we can achieve in the 5pm to 9pm.

This concept really resonates with me because changing behaviour and reframing thoughts are key components of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. If we can find small but novel and exciting ways to reinvent our routine and reframe any activity into an adventure, then we are well on our way towards something that could be really great for our mental health.  

So, what are examples of microadventures?  

• Stargazing.

• Watch the sunset.

• Getting up early to watch the sunrise.

• Take a different route on your morning dog walk.

• Backyard camping.

• Visit a local RSPB site early in the morning to see what wildlife you can find. https://www.rspb.org.uk/days-out/reserves

• Visit a local RSPB site later in the evening and see what different wildlife you can find.

• Geocaching. Geocaching   

• Bat watching.

• Birdwatching from your back garden.  

• Paddling in a stream.

• Climbing a tree.

• Forest bathing.

• Wild Swimming https://www.wildswimming.co.uk/

• Exploring a new green or blue space.

• Walking out of your house and letting a dice determine the journey, 1 = left turn, 2 = right turn 3= straight forwards to the next crossroads, 4 = change direction, 5= keep going for 1 mile, 6= stop for a snack. (feel free to make up your own dice rules).

• Download a compass app and walk in one direction.

• Take your camera and photograph all the different plants, flowers or animals you find.

• Walk a mile a day every day for a month (try to do a different route each time).  

• Take a picnic and follow a river or canal until you get tired and then get the bus home.

• Jump on a train to a new area, explore it and then get the train home.

• Pick a location on a map and walk or cycle to it.

…..there’s no right or wrong for a microadventure, the possibilities are endless.

It strikes me as I write this list, that most of these things are activities we might have done as kids. When we grow up, we stop playing out and there’s no good reason for that, adults need fun too!

That said, microadventures aren’t just about having fun, they are also really good for our mental health. Time outdoors and in nature helps to bring our attention into the present and this brings our stress levels down and promotes a sense of wellbeing. They also give us a break from our daily to-do’s, and this recharges our batteries. When we add the power of exercise, trying something new and pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones, we can end up with a huge confidence boost and an increase in resilience and self-esteem. Microadventures really do ticks A LOT of amazing mental health boxes.

So, what do you think? Is there space in your timetable for a microadventure?

Pencil it in, give it a go and report back. We’d love to know how you got on.

Please note, if you spotted some issues in your schedule that are particularly troublesome for your mood such as consistently high patterns of stress, worry or low mood, please reach out to us for some support, the therapies we offer can offer some tips to help you out.