The whole of the Netherlands flourished last week due to the ice and snow fun. The need seemed to be even greater than usual after months of increasing corona measures. Has our collective mental battery been recharged for a while?
Paul van Lange, professor of social psychology, was also on the ice last weekend. He can confirm from his own experience that it did him good. “Skating and snow fun awaken an enormous sense of community for us Dutch,” he explains.
“It’s not just about a sense of newfound freedom after months of corona restrictions. But it also appeals to our national sense of pride. I suspect that just reading the word ‘natural ice’ generates a feeling of blissful connection, because everyone knows where that word stands for. “
Social psychologist Pepijn van Empelen of TNO agrees with this. “Ice skating is in any case a unique experience, because we can no longer experience it often – certainly with the current climate crisis. to be on the ice. “
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‘Ice skating feeds a feeling of nostalgia’
The whole country was ready for a shot of positivity, Van Empelen confirms. “It seemed as if the normal world was back and we could forget about COVID-19 for a while. The period that we could skate on natural ice was of course also very limited, there was no possibility to postpone. That’s why so many did so. people joined in the past week, which fueled the feeling of collective happiness. “
Ice skating also touches on a sense of nostalgia that makes many people very happy, says professor Van Lange. “A major problem in this corona period is the loneliness that many Dutch people struggle with,” he explains.
“You see few people, you sit at home all day alone. Nostalgia is pre-eminently an emotion that is about things you have done together in the past: a beautiful football match that you saw with your father or the time that you were with your brother. skated at that mill. Memories like that just diminish those feelings of loneliness. “
‘People experience a yessss feeling and move more’
Professor of neuropsychology Erik Scherder also agrees with the statement that the Netherlands has received a positive impulse from the ice and snow fun. “In the past year, people have missed the ‘yesss feeling’ very much because of the corona lockdown, the feeling that you are being rewarded for doing something you enjoy. also induce, such as sugars and fats. “
The unexpected possibility to skate has had positive consequences in the brains of many Dutch people, Scherder analyzes: “Not only skating yourself, but also watching people having fun on the ice means that you build up an extra buffer of energy and resilience. I am not a skater, but I notice that the images in the media have influenced my mood in a good way. “
And the cold period is expected to have even more favorable side effects, the neuropsychologist predicts. “People have once again experienced how nice it is to be outside and to be on the move, something that many Dutch people had forgotten in recent months. I sincerely think that this realization will ensure that many people will do their best in the coming period. to keep that up, by taking a walk more often. “
Angenent: ‘I can live on this for months again’
One of the experienced experts in that field is Henk Angenent. The 53-year-old skater won the last Elfstedentocht in 1997 and made the ‘Tocht der Tochten’ again on Sunday, as far as the natural ice already allowed. “People behave differently on the ice than on the street”, he notes time and again. “If someone falls on the street, everyone walks on. If someone falls on the ice, ten people immediately come to the rescue. Everyone is nicer, everyone is on the same page.”
On Sunday, Angenent enjoyed the total of eight cities he could reach by ice – in some places the ice was too bad. “You feel at one with nature, you only hear the wind and the ice sliding under your feet. Everything around you disappears, you forget all problems and gloom for a moment. It starts to itch again, there is faith in better times again. I can really live on this for weeks on end. “
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