Mountain biking is one of those sports that leave you completely free from the world around you yet firmly grounded as you move forward. But did you know that mountain biking can be beneficial to your mental health as well? The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry mentions that exercise grants several benefits to mental health. As a full-body workout, Mountain biking helps balance the brain’s chemistry and allows a person’s emotions and feelings to settle. However, it goes beyond simply providing support for those with mental illness. Mountain biking is a holistic way to improve fitness while benefitting your emotional state. But how exactly can mountain biking increase one’s mental health?
Endorphins and The Rush
Most mountain bikers will tell you about the rush they get when their tires hit the trail the first time in the morning. The feeling they get is unlike anything they usually feel, but it can be explained by science. The rush these bikers get is from a chemical called endorphins. Endorphins are responsible for that “feel-good” feeling or that feeling of accomplishment you get. When you complete a challenging exam or win a game against someone else, those endorphins flood in and make you feel happy. Aside from just making you feel good, endorphins have additional effects on your brain’s state. Harvard Health notes that endorphins are the body’s natural way to fight depression, and it works far better than you’d expect.
Finding a Spot Outdoors
You might have heard that being outdoors can change your mindset but didn’t really believe it. The truth is that hitting the trail on a bike can be good for you by giving you a change of background and allowing you to reconnect with the world outside. These days, many of us spend a lot of our time locked into screens, sharing and commenting, even arguing online. We rarely go out and lack a lot of the things that the outside world can give to us. Fresh air can help a person’s respiratory system by giving them something different to breathe. Sunlight helps build vitamin D, which could lead to both medical and psychosocial problems. Heading outdoors for a trail ride that won’t consume more than a few hours of your time is a worthy pursuit.
Taking a Step Back
Many individuals who suffer from mental health issues spend a lot of their time trapped in their heads. Either replaying scenarios repeatedly that they can’t change or imagining new and terrifying situations that may never come to pass, neither of these is a healthy method of living. Often, taking a step back isn’t just recommended to get a better perspective of the situation; it’s something the person requires. Mountain biking allows a person to experience the world around them differently and give their self-absorbing thoughts the right kind of perspective. It’s kind of hard to look at your problems the same way when you’re standing on a ridge, looking at a sweeping tree-line disappear into the middle-distance at the end of a trail ride.
Focus and Locking The World Out
One of the most impressive things for mountain bikers is when they get into “the zone.” When a biker is in “the zone,” it feels like the world around them fades to background noise. In that state, the mountain biker tunes out the thoughts they had lingering in the back of their heads and enters a point of hyper-focus. The only thing that matters in that state is the trail in front of them and the trees that zip by in their peripheral vision. This point is very close to meditation, allowing the biker to maintain an intense focus on a single objective. Meditation has proven to be a helpful way to cope with depression and anxiety. Getting into the zone allows a person to leverage the same sort of benefits they would from meditation.
Accomplishment
Individuals battling anxiety know what it feels like when they “take a day off.” They beat themselves up over not accomplishing as much and worry themselves into a heightened state of panic. Mountain biking offers a straightforward way to beat back that looming specter of disapproval by giving you a tangible achievement to add to your list of things you’ve done and can do. Suppose you’re suffering from impostor syndrome, the same remedy works. Completing even a short mountain bike trail means doing something you never did before. Additionally, it gets you the skills to attempt more challenging trials in the future, keeping you pushing forward and doing more.
Community
Someone needs to have a solid support network of friends and family, but sometimes you just can’t get that because of where you live and how far away your relatives are. Mountain biking offers a way to build a community of friends that share an interest with you. You don’t have to be an expert to chime in on the discussions. A lot of what mountain bikers talk about during rides have nothing to do with biking itself. The bonding you feel while on a trail with someone else is impossible to describe unless you experience it yourself. Community helps to create that support network that’s essential for someone dealing with mental health issues.
Mountain Biking as a Weapon
Whether you’re biking in Oregon or Wyoming, the past time can be a weapon against looming mental health issues. Being connected 24/7 takes its toll on our mental well-being, and disconnecting is the only way to avoid becoming a slave to the screen. Individuals with depression and anxiety will start seeing improvements in their ability to cope and much more significant gaps between episodes. Mountain biking is a hobby that isn’t that expensive to get into and can give a lot of benefit to the newcomer. The only way you’ll know if it’ll work for you is if you try it. Even if it doesn’t remove all your mental health issues, it’s a fun way to spend a weekend out in the wilds.
