Adventure is on our doorstep.

With so many different bodies of water available to paddleboarders, from city canals to coastal routes, we can find adventure in places much closer to home than people might initially expect.

According to the Canal and River Trust, 50 percent of people in England and Wales live within just eight kilometers of a canal or river, and eight million people live less than one kilometer away.

I had lived within just a few kilometers of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal for years and never really explored it before stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) came into my life.

The challenge created both a new perspective and a deeper love for where I lived and the areas which I passed through.

On my coast-to-coast journey, I slept in my own bed for two nights as the route passed through my then hometown of Skipton, yet I felt I was on a grand journey of discovery.

We are braver, stronger, and more resilient than we think.

SUP not only helps us feel more connected to our values and dreams but can also change the stories we tell ourselves about who we are and what we are capable of, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

This has a positive ripple effect on other areas of our lives, personally and professionally. So many of the personal stories will attest to this.

Blue Mind Vs Grey Mind

Blue spaces can have a very positive impact on our well-being.

Whether inland or by the coast, man-made canals or wilder rivers and lakes. My body, mind, and spirit are strengthened by being on the water.

I am always reminded of my good friend Craig Jackson, SUPShropshire founder and operational fire officer in the Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, who says that as soon as he is on the water, the stress just seems to float away.

This is an example of the Blue Mind Theory coined by the late Wallace J. Nichols in his 2014 book “Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, Or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do.”

Blue mind is “the mildly meditative state people fall into when they are near, in, under, or on water.”

According to Nichols, most of us live in a “Red Mind” or “Grey Mind” state.

The former can be used for good when we harness it for action and achievement.

However, it can also lead us to feeling anxious, overstimulated, and overwhelmed, which, over time, can result in many of us feeling burned out and disconnected.

The latter is when we feel detached, dissatisfied, numbed, and lethargic.

In “Blue Mind,” Nichols shares scientific studies, including MRI scans, showing how proximity to water can lead to decreased stress and anxiety, increased feelings of well-being, and lower breathing and heart rates.

Dr Catherine Kelly, scientist, well-being practitioner, and author of “Blue Spaces: How and Why Water Can Make You Feel Better,” also writes about how time by water is an antidote to the stresses of our daily lives.

“Blue spaces help regulate the activity of the brain’s amygdala, the anxiety and panic centre, because water allows your attention to drift involuntarily and, therefore, more peacefully, rather than being forced or directed,” she explained in an article for Top Santé magazine.

“Blue space is more than a neutral backdrop, though – it’s alive not just with its own wildlife and vegetation, but with you and your emotions. It changes the neurological patterns of your brain, leaving you feeling more calm, peaceful, and happy.”

Our Waterways Are Interconnected

The discarded crisp packet I picked up in Wigan or Burnley would one day have ended up at the coast.

What we do in one place affects not just our immediate surroundings but the wildlife and health of our distant oceans.

We can individually and collectively have a negative and hopefully a positive impact on the places that bring us such joy.

Caring for the environment is a key theme in the personal stories that follow.

Sense of Community Is Critical in Paddleboarding

I was stunned by the kindness of strangers online and on the towpath who wanted to support my challenge and our subsequent film.

I simply hadn’t expected that anyone would want to join me as I made my way across the country, and was amazed when people asked if they could be part of the adventure or opened up their homes to invite us to stay.

At the finish point in Goole, teams from Paddle UK (then British Canoeing) and the Canal and River Trust were there to welcome me, banging pots and giving me a big bunch of flowers – despite themselves being drenched in the pouring rain.

I had only expected my dad and Frit, the filmmaker, to be there.

Friendship and support are something that many long-distance paddlers have so fully and joyfully embraced.

Adrian Angell, an endurance paddler who has undertaken several huge challenges to raise money for Diabetes UK, wrote in his SUP Mag UK article about being cheered on from the riverbank by supporters as he made his way through London on his own coast-to-coast from Portishead Pier on the Severn Estuary to Southend-on-Sea Pier on the Thames Estuary.

Sophie Witters and Dave Chant, who became the first pair to paddle from Land’s End to John o’ Groats, told me about the logistical and well-being support they received from people as they undertook the challenge.

If there is an antidote to our tendency to doomscroll on social media, watching people share their joy and friendships on the water is definitely it.

“Bloom scrolling” is at its best after a weekend of sunshine and low winds.

A Judgment-Free Tribe

My coast-to-coast really opened my eyes to the roles that connection, friendships, and community play in SUP.

I had almost always paddled alone, as I simply didn’t know anyone locally who had a paddleboard when I began in 2016.

There were far fewer groups online, and none where I paddled most regularly at the coast and on the canal.

As an introvert, I also felt anxious and awkward about reaching out to paddlers I didn’t know.

With unhappy memories of never feeling good enough in school sports and team games, there was also a lingering fear that I would be judged or unable to “keep up.”

This could not be further from the truth.

As a new sport, we don’t have the weight of history about who is and who isn’t a “proper paddleboarder.”

As long as safety and well-being are covered, the community is very judgment-free and welcoming.

We are all still writing the story in Great Britain, and there are so many ways that you can experience it – from a chilled sunset paddle and a picnic to an endurance adventure, the thrill of racing, SUP surfing or whitewater, or a mindful SUP yoga or Pilates session, with a group, or alone.

Since those early days, I have come to cherish moments with other people, many of whom I originally met via social media and then had the good fortune to paddle with in person.

Moving in Unison

There is something about moving on the water, side by side, unencumbered by worldly expectations, roles, and distractions, that means the conversation flows more easily and often more deeply.

Shortly before submitting the manuscript for this book, I was fortunate enough to be invited to paddle with Arnside Sailing Club, based in Morecambe Bay in Cumbria, after speaking to their club about my books and favorite places to paddle in the Lake District the evening before.

It was a dream come true to explore such a unique location. Think fast-flowing tides, the bore, quicksand, and shifting channels.

Setting out into the headwind, I knew no one, and yet within those couple of hours together, I had three profoundly touching and meaningful conversations with men and women that I don’t think I would have had had we met in a typical social setting.

I came away with that same feeling of being a warrior on the water – uplifted, inspired, and with a full and grateful heart.

In her book “The Joy of Movement,” Kelly McGonigal talks about the power of synchrony – how moving in unison (as we are when we are paddling together) can help us feel more strongly connected.

The research she shared from psychologist Bronwyn Tarr was conducted on strangers dancing together at a silent disco.

While music and physical exertion played a role in this “collective joy,” it was the synchrony that was the crucial element.

Since reading about synchrony, I have noticed it so often.

Next time you are paddling with a friend or group, why not see if you are paddling in synchrony?

Words by Jo Moseley | Stand-Up Paddleboarder and Author of “Adventures on the Water: The Power of Paddleboarding to Change Lives”