Wednesday, May 11.

Today I researched my first activity towards bettering my mental health along with studying another person who has made such strides in the mental health world.  Suggested by Kara Kidder, I began to research Kelly McGonigal,  A doctor, and speaker who can contribute a lot to my project.  What I liked most about McGonigal was her emphasis on stress and the human brain.  She believes that stress is toxic to the human brain and can affect not only our happiness but our long-term health as well.  Although hard to swallow, as I read more and more, all I can do is agree.  This is where my project plays in perfectly, what are things I can d that personally relieve my stress?  Today I did my first activity of surfing.  The ocean has always been a place of peace for me, so I was excited to record how I felt after doing so.  Although I expected complete stress relief, I noticed things that I had never done before.  Right now, I am currently super stressed about my plans for next year, which college I will be attending, and if I will ever play competitive hockey again.  This has currently been consuming my thoughts and definitely is not the most healthy way to deal with the stress.  I took to the water expecting to feel so much better, which it did for about half the time.  While paddling out and catching waves, I was only focused on my performance in the water, but as I finished my paddle-outs and waited in between sets, my brain could only think to go back to my stressful state of the unknown for next year.  As I waited for the next wave, I was back to square one, back inside my own head just as stressed as I was before I got in the water.  Although still stressed and not distracted, I did find peace in being amongst nature and being active.  Still stressed, I could only imagine how much worse I could have felt if instead I had stayed in my room all day quietly obsessing over my problems.  All in all, surfing did not cure my stress the way I thought it would, but being active and doing something with my day was definitely more beneficial to my mood and stress level than if I had stayed inside all day letting my anxiousness grow and grow.

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