Yesterday, on a brisk but sunny weekday afternoon, we packed up the minivan and headed over to the indoor wavepark in nearby Niagara Falls, Ontario. A great way to enjoy time with the kids while they are off from school now as summer break begins.
We had a great time zipping down the three-story waterslides and getting tossed about in the wave pool. I even got to enjoy a little quiet time in the huge hot-tub (when my daughter wasn’t pulling me out to get the next soaking from the giant bucket dump!)
It was there, in this time of quiet reflection, (ha-ha!) that I made an interesting observation leading to why I write about this topic here today.
As you know, my position is that photography is more than just recording a visual point in time. It’s more than capturing a memory. It’s more than creating a light picture that will hang on the wall somewhere.
While all that is fun, the hidden benefit of photography is that it is good for our bodies.
Photography leads to better physical and mental health.
The proof I discovered today at the waterpark, in a not-so-scientific, but very revealing study, is that seniors with cameras in their hands tended to move around while seniors without cameras tended to sit in one place.
Yes, because this is a great place for kids to be active, grandparents with cameras (and parents too) had to get up from their chairs and follow the kids around to snap their picture. They had to get moving. And any fitness professional will tell you that moving beats sitting hands-down for creating a healthier body. And any mental health professional will tell you that being active, focused, and doing something – is far better for your mind than not doing anything at all. (“I’m watching TV”. It sounds like you’re doing something, “watching”, but you are really doing nothing at all good physically or mentally for your body. Except on the odd chance you are watching something educational that will led to your actual movement or the doing of something immediately after watching the how-to)
Do you think at any time those folks with cameras thought, “I better get up and get some exercise by chasing those kids around with my camera?”
No. They did it because it was fun. And they would have something fun to see and share later.
Once again proving my point that photography is one of the best, fun ways to keep your body mentally and physically fit.
When you head out regularly to capture a photo of something you love (children, grandchildren, flowers, landscapes, pets, birds, boats, etc. ) you’re doing something to give your body all that it needs to stay fit.
You’re giving the physical body motion, stretching, bending, walking. You’re giving the mind the task (the exercise) of searching, focusing, thinking about which settings you’ll need to best capture the image. You’re keeping the brain’s neural pathways open and growing.
The camera. The ultimate mind-body fitness machine… that’s fun to use! (and you can’t just hang your clothes on it like that dusty unused treadmill either!)
Grab your camera to get out and get fit.
If you’d like more information on easily turn your camera, any camera, even your smartphone, into a fun activity, a hobby that’s good for your total health, I’ve packed a ton of easy, practical, fun tips into my book, “Photo Fitness Phenomenon”. You can grab a copy cheap now on Amazon.com.
Imagine…You…Getting fit doing something fun.
Millions of pro and amateur photographers are already consciously or unconsciously experiencing the healthful benefits of photography. The Phenomenon. They are doing it in a “certain way”. You can be too.
If you’d like a reason to travel to cool new places, meet fun people, interact with beautiful women, in the guise of “staying fit”, maybe it’s time you looked at the hobby of photography in a whole new light! (see what I did there)
The kid in me loves the quest for new adventure. The elder loves that photos create a lasting legacy. Finally…something we both love to do!
That’s what it’s all about baby!
“Bene Vivere!”
Elder Bob Schwarztrauber
