In 2014, TIME magazine named nature No. 1 in a Top 10 list of things to do daily to improve life, citing its many benefits including fitness, spending time with others, physical and mental challenge, as well as feelings of awe and gratitude. Furthermore, moving closer to nature through outdoor adventure enhances mental, emotional and physical well-being in several ways, including:
Easing brain fatigue and daily stress;
Boosting cognition and creativity;
Improving mental health; and
Bolstering safety and security.
Additionally, researchers indicate that participation in nature programs helps build success-oriented identities through the process of overcoming fears, facing new challenges, mastering new skills and improving social skills, thereby creating a pathway to greater self-concept and actualization.
Back2Basics is located in breathtaking surroundings offering space to connect with nature – in the real world, in real time – through adventure and exploration. Our location provides the opportunity for connectedness to all that the great outdoors has to offer through all seasons, year- round. Nature awakens all the senses preventing boredom, depression, loneliness, isolation and overall unhealthiness, further highlighting why individuals recovering from addiction truly need to spend as much time as possible outdoors improving their mental health, promoting healing, increasing mental alertness, reducing stress and increasing their mental and physical strength.
Back2Basics incorporates a whole host of outings, from mountain climbing and kayaking to river rafting and surfing, all designed to increase personal growth and confidence through discipline, survival skills, teamwork and skill mastery. Participants learn the importance of conditioning, preparation, planning, taking responsibility for accomplishing assigned tasks, self-reliance, cooperating with others to accomplish a common goal in a timely manner, understanding how their words and deeds affect others, as well as an appreciation for the power and beauty of nature. Nature offers the setting for lifelong lessons and a pastime to enjoy.
Most forms of real knowledge, including self-knowledge, come from the effort of mastering new skills. Mastering mental and physical activities requires knowledge both about the outside world and reality, as well as an understanding of one’s self and the limitations of that self.
Interacting with nature is the perfect platform to initiate skill mastery because it requires that very same intuitive knowledge that can only come from effort and experience and repeated encounters with challenge and failure. Growth gives human beings command over their lives. FBN
By Roy DuPrez, M.Ed
Back2Basics Outdoor Adventure Recovery combines residential therapeutic counseling with experiential outdoor adventures to treat individuals with substance and alcohol addiction and lead them through rehab and recovery into long-term sober living. The program is highlighted by spending time in the beautiful serene wilderness where individuals are physically challenged, their minds are cleared and they learn ways to defeat old addictive thinking patterns through various outdoor adventures. Back2Basics is an adventure recovery program, up to six months, for young adult males from 18-30 with substance abuse issues looking for a positive and meaningful life.
Leave a Reply