HEALTHYLIVING: Kayaking for Health & Wellness

If you’re looking for an exercise experience that will simultaneously work-out your body and provide opportunity for mental relaxation, too, look no further than what a kayak and a soft current of water can do for you.

August is a perfect time of year to take to the rivers in Southwest Michigan: The temperatures are starting to fall. If you time it right, the lighting can be magnificent. There’s beauty to be seen in nature on the banks, flying above, and swimming below. And the leaves are on the brink of their own special metamorphic journey. These are the things outside the vessel that can be delightful and inspiring.

The things that can transpire inside the kayak are pretty remarkable, too. Consider all the aspects of getting from one place to the other on a riverway propelled by nature and your own exertions and stillnesses! The experience, in terms of health and wellness, is pretty multi-faceted. Consider these necessary components and their benefits:

STRETCHING Before we even get into the kayak, it’s important, just as with any exercise, (whether we are swinging a golf club, running, or riding a bicycle) that we stretch our muscles gently so as to ready them for the main event. Loosening them up before we commit to a multi-hour river excursion is highly recommended. Stretching your lower back, neck, legs and arms will help to minimize cramping during, soreness afterwards, and can also help to prevent injuries.

BALANCE and COORDINATION Water is a trickster. It is in constant movement. And keeping your body’s weight balance to avoid tipping is a constant calibration of weight and focus. Not only does the act of balancing work out your inner core, but it forces your limbs and torso to coordinate in such a way that requires full-body attention: Your toes, where they point; your knees that need to be repositioned frequently to prevent stiffness; how you bring back your elbow when pulling your paddle towards you to move through the water; the way you position your shoulders squarely; these are acts of constant physical balance. Setting yourself in motion then also becomes a task of coordination with the water, your paddle, your eyes. Your mind is alert. And you are sharp to your environment.

BUILDING STRENGTH Whether you take the water at a quick pace, or meander just sitting there keeping your balance is building strength! It’s a great opportunity to work your arms. Your upper torso. This is where we can tone these upper body muscles. Our core, especially, is getting toned, with the shifting of weight and the continued balancing act – we are working all sorts of muscles, some of which we may find we never knew existed!

CARDIO SPURTS AND BREATHING TECHNIQUES

For those who want to challenge the ticker and get your heart rates up, kayaking offers excellent opportunities to execute sets of vigorous exertion with periods of rest. These recovery periods, as they are called, are said to help improve the rate of which we recover so it takes less time to catch our breath and keep going! This “on and off again” approach to exercise can also help us work on the mechanics of our breathing. In through the nose, exhaling through our mouths. When we do this methodically, we can regulate our heartbeat.

MENTAL HEALTH AND ZEN And then there are the moments of the getaway interlude itself – the chance to leave behind the streets and sidewalks, the worries, concerns, the stresses of the days. In your vessel, you can release them all. The opportunities that kayaking lends to finding your bliss – that space that lets you “be” – where you can commune with the elements around you, and connect quietly and peacefully in meditation – can transport you to your very best self.

Energized and Refreshed.

Vicky Kettner is the Association Director of Marketing, Community Relations, and Member Engagement for the YMCA of Greater Kalamazoo.