A prickly way to discover yourself

Skateboarding has been around since the early 1950’s, but it wasn’t until the 1980’s that it really started to take the form of how we see it today. Even though it has now been around for quite some time, it’s only been the last 10 years that we have really seen skateboarding become accepted in everyday life. In fact, skateboarding only just recently made its debut in the 2020 Olympics this past summer. A thing that 13-year-old Nick stepping on his first board never thought he would see in his lifetime.

As more people pick up a board with each new generation, we are seeing that skateboarding has become a sport for everyone. Regardless of age, race, religion, or gender, it is a community by all for all. This has allowed it to become a place to escape the usual stereotypes of how a skateboarder acts or looks; to truly be a place where regardless of how you look, everyone can just enjoy the ride.

“Skateboarding is as much, or more, an art of mode of expression than it is a sport. What skateboarding has given me is precisely that: a form of expression that drew me to it, and, in so doing, I was able to express and be who I wanted to be through it, in a sense.”- Rodney Mullen

Skateboarding has also been found to help people feel empowered in who they are. It can help to reduce the chance of mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, stress, and substance use. Skateboarding also offers an array of advantages including:  

•​Improving Coordination 

•​Building Pain Tolerance 

•​Help build Precision

•​Improves Reflexes

•​Builds Patience 

•​Provides flexibility

•​Offers full-body workout

•​Improves Physical Endurance

•​Improves overall physical health 

Along with all those amazing benefits, skateboarding can help provide many people with a sense of meaning and community.So, dive into the prickly end of life and just maybe you’ll see your local therapist at a skatepark near you.  

—Nick