The benefits of having Adventure Activities in your life
Adventure Activities can create great power in people´s lives. It is a great way to overcome your fears, positive lifetyle changes and trying something new like river boarding or cliff jumping, absailing, rock sliding.
In this blog, I will try to demystify the “danger”, highlighting the benefits of self-challenging, being close to animals, plants, waterfalls and many more mainly while canyoning and river boarding.
Breaking the Hazards
Sorry about the following comparations but as everything in life, options, decisions and rules will dictate how much risk you take for yourself, including during daily activities. For example, if you decide driving your car through the red light in high speed, the chances of having an accident will be enormous. In fact, people are usually afraid of the unknown and they forget that eating healthily and regular exercising prevent diseases, including heart attack which is even more dangerous than any extreme sport I know.
Leading Variety
Considering that human beings are physically and psychologically different, Adventure Tours should be leaded accordingly. Yes, everybody can abseil, cliff jumping, rock sliding while canyoning or going downstream on rapids while river boarding having fun and stay safe. The key point is always professional guides preparing or teaching people properly, starting with low challenges even if it is just going near by some cliff edge attached on a rope to rid of fear and then take the next step when possible. Once trips start flowing, keep eye on everything and cover the potential hazards are essential. Other elements to be considered here are about the guides. Their experiences, fitness level and the capability of using certify gear will drop down the chances of having any major accident.
A Fair Example
Back in the days, a group of 7 visually impaired people, both sexes, between 32 and 72 years of age accepted to be part of Adventure Activities including Canyoning, Rafting and Tarzan Swinging. This was a scientific research part of my final assessment at university, aiming the Contribution of Physical Activity in Natural Environment based on phyco-social aspects. Basically, a rehabilitation program which should last for 6 months but was extended for 5 years due to positive results, achieving many participants by the end of the 5th year.
The Didactic
Surprisingly or not, the visual impairment was just a characteristic of the people like any other in the society. The way to lead them through the adventures was the same as anybody else, training. Explanations were verbally made rather than visual demonstration and objects were manually manoeuvred, hand to hand to demonstrate what was about to happen. The main adaptation was a belt attached at the end of a rope, near by a carabiner that they had to find in the air while still bouncing after Tarzan swinging and click in their harnesses to be pulled back up on a 20 meters pillar where they were jumping off from.
The Benefits for All
Well, it is quite logical that being able to step over some challenges bring self-satisfaction, but it is not just about that. Living in big cities usually make people stressed. To be in touch with natural environment helps to forget about the living routine. Moreover the purify air that flows through the jungle, the creatures found in remote places such as Cassowaries, Platypus, and the exercising that river boarding provides while kicking fins downstream or the jumps, scrambling and rappelling while canyoning are some good elements that should convince you at least try it.
Where to?
I could probably write few suggestions however, the town called Cairns in Far North Queensland State in Australia gives you the possibility of visiting the Great Barrier Reef. Also, the Adventure Company called Cairns Canyoning can take you deep in the oldest continuum living rainforest in the world within caves, waterfalls while canyoning and river boarding.
Extreme Sports are made for everybody, you dictate your own pace. Remember, do not go through the red light.
Give a chance to yourself, try it. Adventure Activities are much more than I can describe, it is a lifestyle.
Enjoy!
Márcio Garbuio