Introducing My Free Inquiry – Getting Outdoors

My free inquiry project for this term revolves around spending Sunday mornings outdoors for the remainder of the school term, examining how physical activity, especially in the outdoors, can improve mental health, school performance, and help build community through a weekly ritual.

I work very hard at school and through my jobs. Due to this, I feel like I am constantly under stress and trying to find time in my day to just simply take care of myself. Living in such a beautiful city like Victoria has inspired me to explore and make time in my schedule, even once a week, to connect to the land and see if it improves my overall mental and physical experience this term.

For my weekly inquiry, I will create a weekly blog post. This will consist of details from my Sunday morning walk, such as location, duration, weather, my mood (before and after), my thoughts and recent findings about the benefits of being outdoors, and who (if anyone) joined me for the walk.

My free inquiry project has a great connection to education and teaching, relating strongly to outdoor education. Outdoor education is still fairly new to regular school systems, but it has, in recent years, been noticed as a great alternative way for children to learn. Offering a new calming environment, away from the harsh lights and overstimulating environment of a traditional school setting, is exactly what many students need to engage thoughtfully with learning. I am specifically going to focus on how nature can affect one’s mental well-being, and how such weekly or daily nature walks with a class can support their learning, emotional self-regulation and overall growth in and outside of the classroom.

My overall goal for my free inquiry project is to inspire others to take their learning or downtime outside and create a ritual of their own to support their mental health, or that of their friends, family or students.