Brad Dixon
At 12:10pm every Wednesday the ‘No wetsuit Wednesday’ crew convene for a lunch time ocean swim. During the winter months it's more uncomfortable but the health rewards are even greater.
The swim is between 800-1000m around Moturiki Island (also known as Leisure Island) on the main beach side of Mt. Maunganui. The transformative sea swim takes 20 to 30min depending on the tide, and how many stops we make for rock jumping or to appreciate the sea life. The ocean dip is the perfect mid-week enhancement. We all look forward to it; we enjoy the soul nourishment the ocean delivers, and revel in the increased focus and productivity we all experience Wednesday afternoon. The ocean is the ultimate life supporter and playground, improving our well-being in far more ways than we know.
Anyone who spends time in our wonderful ocean will understand the majesty of the sea. You come out of the ocean a better person than when you entered. A wellness baptism that helps combat the stress and anxiety that accompanies living in modern society. The studies are numerous showing the health benefits. From grounding research* suggesting swimming in the ocean helps balance out a building positive electrical charge (due to excessive free radicals creating inflammation) by returning our system to a neutral state. If the body has a building positive charge, being in the ocean (earthing) allows electrons to flow into the body where they can neutralise overblown free radical and inflammatory damage. Surfing and ocean swimming programmes are used to help soldiers returning from the horror of war deal positively with post-traumatic stress, and the public deal with depression. A major study by Dr.Steven Blair at University of South Carolina spanning 32 years with 40,000 men aged 20-90 showed swimmers had a 50% lower death rate than runners, walkers, and those that didn't exercise at all.I
If you swim in winter, then the wellness benefits are amplified. Cold water has been used for centuries to cure disease, and recent science is proving its ability to boost immunity, metabolism, cellular health, artery robustness, and happiness^. If you are close to the ocean or a lake during winter get into it to improve multiple health metrics-or just start by turning the shower temperature to cold.
The ocean is not only beneficial for us as individuals, but crucial for our existence on earth. It is the blue beating heart of our planet. Oceans cover over 70% of our earth’s surface. It supplies up to 70% of all our oxygen, absorbs 25% of human emitted CO2 (is a buffer zone for our warming activities), it regulates our climate with currents and temperature transfer, and by volume is over 90% of the living space on earth containing up to 80% of all life. Without a thriving ocean life on earth will be desperate, desolate, and impossible.
"The sea, the great unifier, is human kinds only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: we are all in the same boat. "Jacques Yves Cousteau
Unfortunately, the lifestyles that we engage in creating the rising anxiety, distress, and disease that drives us into the ocean for. I believe the problem started back in the 4th Century when the most prolific western religion got intertwined with the Roman Empire. The simple inconvenient truths of living simply with each other and in harmony with nature didn't fit with the ruling elite. Our soil, rivers, lakes, and oceans are sacred-the ruling empire doesn't want to hear that because if nature is sacred then we can't just do whatever we wish to it for profit. Our society has been riling against indigenous culture and commodified nature ever since. The pursuit of wealth over the preservation of our natural world has completely tipped the balance. We now rely on fossil fuels for energy, even though the burning of these warm and acidify our oceans. The weight of humans and our livestock is over 96% of the mammalian weight on the planet compared to 4% of wild animals. 70% of all bird life on earth is raised for us to eat. KFC anyone? We raise 70 billion animals a year with the associated effluent, and feed crops using synthetic fertiliser and pesticides. These then degrade our soil and leach into our water ways which run into oceans creating dead zones. We take 2.3 trillion fish from the oceans every year with trawling methods that decimate the ocean floor. By 2047 there will be more plastic by weight than fish in our oceans and the commercial fishing industries will have long since collapsed. I find it frighteningly ironic the busy consumeristic lifestyle we engage in creates anxiety, depression, and chronic lifestyle disease on an individual basis-to cope we use the ocean to defrag and be replenished; and the same systems we live by creates global disease decimating the ocean, along with entire natural world that depends on it.
If you love the ocean how about we change our lifestyle, the entrenched systems we live by to allow seven generations from now to enjoy it.
I love our ocean. I relish my No Wetsuit Wednesday swim. It's time our society changed the way we treat our oceans and natural world. Let’s rise to the challenge and become the guardians we are born to be. Let's return to the way our indigenous people lived with the earth. The process of Kaitiakitanga is protecting our environment. Love is an action - not just empty words.
*Health Implications of Reconnecting the Human Body to the Earth’s Surface Electrons (Journal of Environmental Public Health 2012, Jan 12
^Human physiological responses to immersion into water of different temperatures-Sramek et al, European Journal of applied Physiology, 2000
REFERENCES
Brad Dixon
Brad Dixon
At 12:10pm every Wednesday the ‘No wetsuit Wednesday’ crew convene for a lunch time ocean swim. During the winter months it's more uncomfortable but the health rewards are even greater.
The swim is between 800-1000m around Moturiki Island (also known as Leisure Island) on the main beach side of Mt. Maunganui. The transformative sea swim takes 20 to 30min depending on the tide, and how many stops we make for rock jumping or to appreciate the sea life. The ocean dip is the perfect mid-week enhancement. We all look forward to it; we enjoy the soul nourishment the ocean delivers, and revel in the increased focus and productivity we all experience Wednesday afternoon. The ocean is the ultimate life supporter and playground, improving our well-being in far more ways than we know.
Anyone who spends time in our wonderful ocean will understand the majesty of the sea. You come out of the ocean a better person than when you entered. A wellness baptism that helps combat the stress and anxiety that accompanies living in modern society. The studies are numerous showing the health benefits. From grounding research* suggesting swimming in the ocean helps balance out a building positive electrical charge (due to excessive free radicals creating inflammation) by returning our system to a neutral state. If the body has a building positive charge, being in the ocean (earthing) allows electrons to flow into the body where they can neutralise overblown free radical and inflammatory damage. Surfing and ocean swimming programmes are used to help soldiers returning from the horror of war deal positively with post-traumatic stress, and the public deal with depression. A major study by Dr.Steven Blair at University of South Carolina spanning 32 years with 40,000 men aged 20-90 showed swimmers had a 50% lower death rate than runners, walkers, and those that didn't exercise at all.I
If you swim in winter, then the wellness benefits are amplified. Cold water has been used for centuries to cure disease, and recent science is proving its ability to boost immunity, metabolism, cellular health, artery robustness, and happiness^. If you are close to the ocean or a lake during winter get into it to improve multiple health metrics-or just start by turning the shower temperature to cold.
The ocean is not only beneficial for us as individuals, but crucial for our existence on earth. It is the blue beating heart of our planet. Oceans cover over 70% of our earth’s surface. It supplies up to 70% of all our oxygen, absorbs 25% of human emitted CO2 (is a buffer zone for our warming activities), it regulates our climate with currents and temperature transfer, and by volume is over 90% of the living space on earth containing up to 80% of all life. Without a thriving ocean life on earth will be desperate, desolate, and impossible.
"The sea, the great unifier, is human kinds only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: we are all in the same boat. "Jacques Yves Cousteau
Unfortunately, the lifestyles that we engage in creating the rising anxiety, distress, and disease that drives us into the ocean for. I believe the problem started back in the 4th Century when the most prolific western religion got intertwined with the Roman Empire. The simple inconvenient truths of living simply with each other and in harmony with nature didn't fit with the ruling elite. Our soil, rivers, lakes, and oceans are sacred-the ruling empire doesn't want to hear that because if nature is sacred then we can't just do whatever we wish to it for profit. Our society has been riling against indigenous culture and commodified nature ever since. The pursuit of wealth over the preservation of our natural world has completely tipped the balance. We now rely on fossil fuels for energy, even though the burning of these warm and acidify our oceans. The weight of humans and our livestock is over 96% of the mammalian weight on the planet compared to 4% of wild animals. 70% of all bird life on earth is raised for us to eat. KFC anyone? We raise 70 billion animals a year with the associated effluent, and feed crops using synthetic fertiliser and pesticides. These then degrade our soil and leach into our water ways which run into oceans creating dead zones. We take 2.3 trillion fish from the oceans every year with trawling methods that decimate the ocean floor. By 2047 there will be more plastic by weight than fish in our oceans and the commercial fishing industries will have long since collapsed. I find it frighteningly ironic the busy consumeristic lifestyle we engage in creates anxiety, depression, and chronic lifestyle disease on an individual basis-to cope we use the ocean to defrag and be replenished; and the same systems we live by creates global disease decimating the ocean, along with entire natural world that depends on it.
If you love the ocean how about we change our lifestyle, the entrenched systems we live by to allow seven generations from now to enjoy it.
I love our ocean. I relish my No Wetsuit Wednesday swim. It's time our society changed the way we treat our oceans and natural world. Let’s rise to the challenge and become the guardians we are born to be. Let's return to the way our indigenous people lived with the earth. The process of Kaitiakitanga is protecting our environment. Love is an action - not just empty words.
*Health Implications of Reconnecting the Human Body to the Earth’s Surface Electrons (Journal of Environmental Public Health 2012, Jan 12
^Human physiological responses to immersion into water of different temperatures-Sramek et al, European Journal of applied Physiology, 2000
Brad Dixon
At 12:10pm every Wednesday the ‘No wetsuit Wednesday’ crew convene for a lunch time ocean swim. During the winter months it's more uncomfortable but the health rewards are even greater.
The swim is between 800-1000m around Moturiki Island (also known as Leisure Island) on the main beach side of Mt. Maunganui. The transformative sea swim takes 20 to 30min depending on the tide, and how many stops we make for rock jumping or to appreciate the sea life. The ocean dip is the perfect mid-week enhancement. We all look forward to it; we enjoy the soul nourishment the ocean delivers, and revel in the increased focus and productivity we all experience Wednesday afternoon. The ocean is the ultimate life supporter and playground, improving our well-being in far more ways than we know.
Anyone who spends time in our wonderful ocean will understand the majesty of the sea. You come out of the ocean a better person than when you entered. A wellness baptism that helps combat the stress and anxiety that accompanies living in modern society. The studies are numerous showing the health benefits. From grounding research* suggesting swimming in the ocean helps balance out a building positive electrical charge (due to excessive free radicals creating inflammation) by returning our system to a neutral state. If the body has a building positive charge, being in the ocean (earthing) allows electrons to flow into the body where they can neutralise overblown free radical and inflammatory damage. Surfing and ocean swimming programmes are used to help soldiers returning from the horror of war deal positively with post-traumatic stress, and the public deal with depression. A major study by Dr.Steven Blair at University of South Carolina spanning 32 years with 40,000 men aged 20-90 showed swimmers had a 50% lower death rate than runners, walkers, and those that didn't exercise at all.I
If you swim in winter, then the wellness benefits are amplified. Cold water has been used for centuries to cure disease, and recent science is proving its ability to boost immunity, metabolism, cellular health, artery robustness, and happiness^. If you are close to the ocean or a lake during winter get into it to improve multiple health metrics-or just start by turning the shower temperature to cold.
The ocean is not only beneficial for us as individuals, but crucial for our existence on earth. It is the blue beating heart of our planet. Oceans cover over 70% of our earth’s surface. It supplies up to 70% of all our oxygen, absorbs 25% of human emitted CO2 (is a buffer zone for our warming activities), it regulates our climate with currents and temperature transfer, and by volume is over 90% of the living space on earth containing up to 80% of all life. Without a thriving ocean life on earth will be desperate, desolate, and impossible.
"The sea, the great unifier, is human kinds only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: we are all in the same boat. "Jacques Yves Cousteau
Unfortunately, the lifestyles that we engage in creating the rising anxiety, distress, and disease that drives us into the ocean for. I believe the problem started back in the 4th Century when the most prolific western religion got intertwined with the Roman Empire. The simple inconvenient truths of living simply with each other and in harmony with nature didn't fit with the ruling elite. Our soil, rivers, lakes, and oceans are sacred-the ruling empire doesn't want to hear that because if nature is sacred then we can't just do whatever we wish to it for profit. Our society has been riling against indigenous culture and commodified nature ever since. The pursuit of wealth over the preservation of our natural world has completely tipped the balance. We now rely on fossil fuels for energy, even though the burning of these warm and acidify our oceans. The weight of humans and our livestock is over 96% of the mammalian weight on the planet compared to 4% of wild animals. 70% of all bird life on earth is raised for us to eat. KFC anyone? We raise 70 billion animals a year with the associated effluent, and feed crops using synthetic fertiliser and pesticides. These then degrade our soil and leach into our water ways which run into oceans creating dead zones. We take 2.3 trillion fish from the oceans every year with trawling methods that decimate the ocean floor. By 2047 there will be more plastic by weight than fish in our oceans and the commercial fishing industries will have long since collapsed. I find it frighteningly ironic the busy consumeristic lifestyle we engage in creates anxiety, depression, and chronic lifestyle disease on an individual basis-to cope we use the ocean to defrag and be replenished; and the same systems we live by creates global disease decimating the ocean, along with entire natural world that depends on it.
If you love the ocean how about we change our lifestyle, the entrenched systems we live by to allow seven generations from now to enjoy it.
I love our ocean. I relish my No Wetsuit Wednesday swim. It's time our society changed the way we treat our oceans and natural world. Let’s rise to the challenge and become the guardians we are born to be. Let's return to the way our indigenous people lived with the earth. The process of Kaitiakitanga is protecting our environment. Love is an action - not just empty words.
*Health Implications of Reconnecting the Human Body to the Earth’s Surface Electrons (Journal of Environmental Public Health 2012, Jan 12
^Human physiological responses to immersion into water of different temperatures-Sramek et al, European Journal of applied Physiology, 2000
Brad Dixon
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