10 Things to do on a Mental Health Day

I don't usually talk about mental health on Cardio Trek, but I am going to do so today because I have decided to take a Mental Health Day. Think of it like a mini vacation. A day off to do something you enjoy that doesn't stress you out.

So with that in mind let's go through some of  my favourite activities to do on a Mental Health Day, and keeping in mind that I like to exercise so there will be a theme to this.

#1. Archery

I love archery. I find it very relaxing, despite it being a sport/exercise. I never get bored doing archery. I get tired and/or hungry and eventually have to leave the archery range because I need food, sleep, ice cream, a shower, etc. Creature comforts. But I am never bored while doing archery or socializing with my fellow archers (most archers are fairly social and talkative).

#2. Go to the Beach and Swim

If it is remotely warm outside (and not raining) then it is probably a good day to go to the beach and swim, walk along the beach, jog in the surf, etc. Take the dog with you. Take the kids. Have a fun time. Bring cold drinks and/or stop for ice cream.

#3. Make Ice Cream!

As you may have guessed I do like my ice cream, and while most ice cream certainly is not the healthiest you can also make low sugar / low fat alternatives that still taste amazing.

You can very easily make your own strawberry ice cream (not real ice cream, but the texture will be roughly the same) by mixing the following in a blender:

• 10 ozs frozen strawberries
• 4 ozs Greek yogurt 
• 1 tsp honey or maple syrup
• 4 fresh strawberries

Easy peasy strawberry squeezy! Afterwards you have a healthy snack you can take with you for a walk, to the beach, to the archery range, etc.

#4. Go for a Walk / Hike / Birdwatching

Where you go doesn't really matter. Walking trails. Abandoned railway tracks. The beach. I recommend taking a camera with you, or if you are into birdwatching (aka birding) then bringing a bird book with you is also a good idea. Even if you are not into birding then now is a good time to start getting interested in it. There are even apps on the subject if you don't own any birding books. (I am not going to recommend a particular app, but feel free to browse.)

#5. Shopping / Window Shopping

I love window shopping almost as much as I like actually buying things. Sometimes it is fun just to browse and look. Even for things you know you cannot afford, like when you walk into a Lamborghini dealership just to have a look. You aren't going to buy a Lamborghini, but it is still fun to walk around them, sit in them and talk to the sales staff (try not to waste their time however unless they look bored due to a lack of customers).

Shopping often deals with a significant amount of walking, and possibly carrying anything that you purchased, so there is oddly an exercise component and it can be quite exhausting by the time you get home with your new purchases.

One of my personal favourites is to go to bookstores and browse (and maybe buy a book). I don't need to buy any books to have fun and relax while shopping for books, but I certainly buy a lot of books judging by my shelves. I also like garage sales and used book stores because you never know what you are going to find. In Toronto check out the store "Re: Reading" on the Danforth. 

Another one I really like is furniture shopping. Mostly because you get to sit on the furniture and it is therefore relaxing, but there is still a goodly amount of walking involved. Plus maybe you finally replace that sofa you've been meaning to throw out, so that could be a win-win.

#6. Ice Skating

In the winter it is a great time to go ice skating, and in a city like Toronto there are many free outdoor ice rinks to choose from. The one in front of Toronto City Hall for example offers skate rentals and lockers so that you can enjoy the activity even if you don't own skates you can still do it. Plus you don't need to be good at ice skating to have fun doing it. It is still fun regardless even if you are horrible at it.

#7. Rollerblading / Roller Skating

Other times of the year you can still skate, but the method is different. It might involve going to a roller rink and renting roller skates or rollerblades, but just like ice skating this is something you can have fun doing even if you are horrible at it.

For best results take a friend or family member with you!

#8. Go Fishing

Not for everyone, but regardless of whether you don't catch anything, catch-and-release, or eat what you catch you will still have a relaxing time.

#9. Antiquing

Similar to shopping, antiquing is when you go to many different antiques stores and browse. Antique store owners are used to people browsing and not buying anything so what you're doing isn't really that unusual.

#10. What is your favourite hobby?

Chances are you have a favourite hobby. Why not spend the day doing it? Just relax and do that one hobby that makes you really happy. As long as the hobby isn't harming you or anyone else, and isn't stressful, then it should be a good way to relax.

Happy Mental Healthy Day!

Students who don't Listen

Today I had a bonding experience with a fellow archery instructor during which the topic of "students who don't listen" came up. For me this experience of commiserating with a fellow archery instructor was cathartic.

What is the point of getting archery lessons (or any other kind of lesson) if you're not going to listen to the instructor?

There is nothing more annoying to an instructor than trying to teach someone who refuses to listen. I have, historically, refunded lessons to people who didn't listen and I didn't want to bother teaching them.

Especially if I considered them to be a danger to themselves and others. It would be irresponsible, in my opinion, to teach someone I consider to be dangerously ignorant and refuses to correct their mistakes or listen to the instructor.

This is one of the reasons why I rarely teach children any more. There is a measure of responsibility and maturity on the part of the student that needs to be there before I even agree to teach archery to a child... And if they later turn out to be the type of person who doesn't listen then guess who is getting the remainder of their lessons canceled and refunded*...?

* Partly because of liability issues in which I don't want to be legally responsible for a child (or adult) who is a danger to themselves and others. So this isn't really a choice for me. It is basically a legal requirement on my part to be responsible about who I choose to teach.

As noted by my colleague and myself, this problem of students who don't listen is mostly an issue of children who lack maturity. It is rare to meet an adult with this particular problem, although not unheard of. I sometimes come across an adult or even a senior who has become set in their ways and doesn't want to listen, even when they know it is in their best interest to do so.

The problem I find often stems from students thinking that they know more than the instructor because they have been watching too much television/movies, did archery at summer camp with someone who didn't know how to teach archery, or they've bought into misinformation about the sport they learned from other sources (fictional books, YouTube, Facebook, etc). This is why, in my opinion, it is often better to teach a student who is a blank slate. The less misinformation they have previously received the better.

Just because you saw a cartoon character doing archery a certain way doesn't mean that you know more than the archery instructor. You don't. Get over it.

 

Trying to teach someone like that also makes me want to pull my hair out in frustration. I don't need the added stress. My knee jerk reaction to meeting a student who doesn't want to listen is to cancel the lessons and refund the money. The liability and the stress just isn't worth it.

Plus why take lessons in something that you don't want to learn???

I get it when parents sign up their kids for ice skating lessons or swimming lessons... And the child would rather be looking at their cellphone than paying attention to the lesson. But if the parent knows that their child isn't actually interested then you should just find them a different activity that does interest them. Not every child wants to swim, do ice skating or archery. Find them something else they actually want to do. Tae kwon do lessons perhaps. Rock climbing. Krav maga. Golf. Violin. Ballet. Parkour.

Don't force them to do a sport they're clearly not interested in.

Shapesmiths, Fitness Coaches and Personal Trainers

I learned a new word today:

"Shapesmith"

 Apparently it is an older version of saying fitness coach or personal trainer. The word Shapesmith appears in Dr. Johnson's English dictionary, which was published in 1755. He defined the shapesmith as “one who undertakes to improve the form of the body".

But that could also mean someone who is an athlete too, couldn't it? So to some extent it represents someone who is both an athlete and/or a fitness coach.

I see myself as more of a sports trainer, seeing as my goal is to get people "in shape" by encouraging them to get better at various sports like archery, boxing, swimming, ice skating and others.

I find that motivation is an important part of exercising - and getting into the practice, rhythm and habit of exercising - and that if you can make exercising fun via sports then it is far easier for people to get motivated and stay motivated.

Furthermore a person doesn't necessarily need a personal trainer (or fitness coach or shapesmith) in order to do sports, but when it comes to certain sports like archery, swimming, ice skating and boxing then it definitely helps to have someone who can coach you on how to do it properly. 

... 

For reference, I learned the word shapesmith by watching an episode of QI (season J, episode 4), which you can watch below thanks to YouTube: 

 

The Benefits of Practicing Clout Archery

Clout Archery is a sport in which archers compete at shooting a "clout of arrows" as close to a target flag pole as possible, often at really long distances such as 140 or 180 yards away.

For people new to clout archery (or when the field is shorter than desirable) you may want to use shorter distances such as 60, 70, 80 yards, etc. Or if you have a really large field available, you could even try shooting longer distances like 200 yards or more.

The image below shows the results of 1 round of shooting with one of my archery students recently on June 4th 2022, shooting at a distance of 60 yards (180 feet). She got two clusters near the flag pole as you can see, nearly hitting the flag pole despite windy conditions that day.

Which brings me to the topic of what makes Clout Archery something that is useful to learn:

#1. Clout Archery is really good for archers learning how to adjust for wind conditions.

#2. Clout Archery is very good at teaching people how to shoot long distances accurately, with the distances often being more than that used by Olympic archers (70 meters).

#3. Because shooting long distances magnifies any mistakes the archer makes it forces the archer to be more of a perfectionist than shooting short distances in comparison.

BONUS THOUGHTS

Shooting such long distances can also be quite fun as there is a level of joy in watching an arrow fly so far and yet manage to land near the flag pole (or on rare occasions, even hit the flag pole).

For extra fun you can also use whistling arrowheads.

To make it easier to find your arrows (depending on the distance) you can also use wingnuts behind your screwed on field points so that when they hit the ground they dig in like an anchor and are easier to find. Alternatively, you can also use large (flu flu) fletching on your arrows.

Clout Archery Lessons?

Anyone wanting to learn archery (and specifically Clout Archery) can sign up for archery lessons in Toronto and mention that you want to learn Clout Archery.

How to Fix Holey Archery Targets

 

As time goes by eventually your archery targets will get holey (or fall down) in which case you either need to replace the material or repair it in some manner.

Repairing Natural Tentest Targets

In the case of Natural Tentest targets, like those at the Toronto Archery Range located at E. T. Seton Park shown above, one way to repair the big gaping holes is to wait until one of the target butts collapses and falls down - often due to heavy rain and/or wind - and then you can use the broken fallen pieces of Natural Tentest to stuff the holes in the other targets.

And for fun, you can also add a large water container to the target butt which collapsed so that people can still potentially shoot at something until that target's tentest is replaced.

Repairing 3D Targets

In the case of 3D targets (deer, raccoons, etc) that are popular with hunters one of the best ways to repair them is with foam, like in the video below. What brand or style of foam you use doesn't really matter, what is really important is that you don't overfill the holes you are repairing because otherwise excess material will leak out (as demonstrated in the video below). A "less is better" approach is best for that scenario.

Repairing DIY Cardboard Targets

The beauty of cardboard targets is that they're super easy to repair and cost effective. Just make a habit of saving any large pieces of cardboard from your home and/or workplace and you can easily just rip out any damaged pieces of cardboard from your DIY targets and replace with new cardboard.

Best of all, the old cardboard is still recyclable so it has simply been reused before eventually reaching the recycling bin.

Your cardboard archery target doesn't need to be fancy either (like the one in the image below). It simply could be a cardboard box which is filled with cardboard. Having a wooden frame is really unnecessary for most people's purposes. But once you have a cardboard target they're very easy to repair.