Hiking and Mental Health: Why I Hike in the Mountains
Someone once asked me why I go hiking, and my answer always comes back to the powerful connection between hiking and mental health. While the physical benefits are obvious – pushing my body, the cardiovascular exercise, the feeling of strength – it’s the profound improvements to my mental wellbeing that truly draw me to the mountains.
I’d say it’s a 60/40 split in favour of the mental benefits, mainly because the journey begins long before I ever set foot on the trail.
Overcoming Hiking Anxiety: The Inner Ascent
It doesn’t matter how many hikes I’ve done; before every single trip, there’s a sense of worry. Overcoming hiking anxiety is the first part of any challenge. A chorus of “what ifs” starts playing in my head:
- What if I get lost?
- What if the weather turns really bad?
- What if I injure myself?
- How difficult is the route really going to be?
If I decide to wild camp, that adds another layer of worries, which directly impacts my wild camping mental health. Will I find a good place to pitch my tent? Will it be sheltered? Will there be a water source nearby? There’s always an uncertainty when you’re heading to a place you’ve never been.
I know some people don’t seem to have these worries. They just pack their bag and off they go. In some ways, I’d love to be like that. But I accept that I have these voices in my head that can sometimes make it difficult.
Optimism and Perseverance: The Driving Force of the Climb
Having said all that, I don’t want to give the impression that I’m always consumed by negative thoughts. The truth is, I’m a relatively optimistic person, and I believe optimism and perseverance are the real driving forces behind the climb.
Whilst those negative thoughts exist, I have a fundamental belief in my ability to achieve the end goal. This optimistic mindset becomes self-fulfilling; because I perceive the outcome as attainable, I persist with the plan.
The real test comes when I hit inevitable obstacles, like a false summit. It’s in those moments that my determination to keep going kicks in. This is something backed by research, which has shown that optimism helps people to persevere. This sense of optimism promotes active and effective coping, empowering me to accept a situation, make the best of it, and grow from it.
Ultimately, it helps me feel that I am in control of my destiny.
Choosing to Climb: Breaking Negative Patterns
The reality is, I don’t want to give in to those voices. I want to push myself.
I once heard the phrase, “Live a full life and die empty,” and it really resonates with me. It’s about pushing through those self-imposed barriers. If we give in to those negative voices, we are conditioning ourselves to avoid the very things that bring us joy. The more we avoid them, the stronger that negative conditioning becomes.
That’s why it’s so important to push past the limitations in our minds. Every time I go out and face those fears, I provide myself with more evidence that the thing I was worried about isn’t true. My confidence grows. It’s definitely easier to just throw the towel in, but the rewards are far greater when you keep pushing.
More Than Just a View: The Mental Benefits of Nature
The rewards for pushing through are immense. It’s the breathtaking sunset, the quiet magic of a sunrise, and the moment of profound inner peace you discover when you’re alone in the wild. These are the mental benefits of nature in their purest form.
Being in the mountains is a humbling experience. I feel like a guest in an ancient environment, and it’s a privilege to be there. But perhaps the biggest reward of all is that feeling at the end of a hard day: I didn’t give in. That feeling of accomplishment, of pushing past my own personal limitations, is one of the greatest things I get from hiking.
The Journey Home: Building Lasting Resilience
Beyond the immediate benefits, I believe there are longer-term benefits that you carry back home. I still remember my first proper hike in the Peak District, going up Jacob’s Ladder. I remember how tough it felt, how unbearable. I genuinely didn’t think I could do it. But I did.
In many ways, mountains are a metaphor for life. The sense of achievement you get from a challenging hike is long-lasting, and I truly believe it makes you mentally more resilient. You gain an inner strength that is transferable. In those times of trouble in your personal life, you can draw upon the resilience you’ve built. That experience of pushing through something that felt unbearable gives you a reserve of strength to tell yourself, “I can do this. I can overcome this.”
And that, more than anything, is the heart of hiking and mental health. It’s a practice for life—a reminder that no matter how steep the climb, I have the strength within me to keep putting one foot in front of the other until I reach the top.
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