How Canoeing Makes You Healthier
5-minute read
When you canoe, you’ve probably noticed that you’re more relaxed. You’re less stressed. You can think clearly and more positively. That’s not a coincidence!
(Photo courtesy of Kirk Lindberg)
Canoeing, like anything that gets us moving out in nature, is beneficial in so many ways to our physical and mental well-being.
Canoeing is enjoyable, sure. But it’s more than that. Canoeing boosts our health for a couple of big reasons which are backed up by science: You’re moving your body and you’re in nature.
Research is finding more and more that these two factors individually boost our health in loads of ways. But combine them and you have a two-for-one that’s hard to beat.
Let’s take a close look…
Canoeing Gleans the Many Benefits of Nature
One of the best things about canoeing is that it gets us out in nature. Even if we’re paddling in an urban area, we’re still on a river or lake, and there are usually lots of other natural things surrounding us: birds, trees, aquatic plants, butterflies, wildflowers, wildlife.
We call these “green spaces.”
Studies worldwide show that being in green spaces benefits people emotionally, mentally and spiritually in big ways. Some of these benefits include:
- Less mental fatigue
- Reduced stress
- Reduced depression
- Lower anxiety
- Better mood
Canoeing boosts our health in a ton of ways whether in the wilderness or an urban area (photo courtesy of Adirondack Lakes and Trails Outfitters)
Think about how these five improvements contribute to the following benefits as well:
- More alertness
- Better concentration and productivity
- Increased creativity
- Better problem-solving abilities
- Improved short-term memory
- Better sleep
Want more of these things in your life? Get in nature often! Canoeing is a fantastic way to do that. It doesn’t seem to matter if you’re in the wilderness or on an urban lake. Simply being immersed in the natural world boosts our mental and emotional health.
And as we’ve been learning more and more from research, our mental and emotional health is a huge contributor to (or detractor from) our physical health.
The lists above all contribute to less inflammation, lower blood pressure, reduced risk of heart attack and stroke, and a stronger immune system.
Getting enough Vitamin D is essential for bone and blood health and for a strong immune system. And our best source of Vitamin D is sunlight, which is readily available when we’re out on the water.
So being in nature, in green spaces, regularly is a proven way to boost your mental, emotional and physical health. The other big benefit of canoeing is that it’s a way to be active. To get your body moving.
Canoeing is healthy for the whole family! (photo courtesy of We Found Adventure)
Canoeing Gleans the Many Benefits of Physical Activity
We’re all familiar with the many health benefits we get from physical activity. It’s been drilled into us for a few decades now! But let’s review anyway…
Our bodies are designed to move. Every system functions better when we move frequently throughout the day. It’s activity, even more than “exercise,” that gives us those benefits.
Canoeing is one great way to be active and move. Sure, it’s a lot of sitting. But our upper body is constantly moving when we canoe—our arms, shoulders, core and back are all engaged with every stroke.
It’s a great addition to activities like walking, running and biking, where our lower body does all the work. And if you want a full-body workout, get on canoe routes with portages (minus a cart)!
The proven benefits of physical activities like canoeing are:
- Less inflammation
- Lower blood pressure
- Reduced risk of heart attack and stroke
- A stronger immune system
- Less mental fatigue
- Reduced stress and anxiety
- Better ability to cope with depression
- Increased creativity and problem-solving ability
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Yes, the benefits of physical activity are almost identical to the benefits of being in a natural environment. So when you canoe, you get a double-dose of all this healthiness!
Isn’t that great news?!
Paul Villecourt’s photo from the 2025 Open Canoe Festival in France
Nature (and Activity) as Medicine
Some doctors are jumping on board with all this research in how they treat their patients. While “more exercise” has been pretty consistent advice from the medical community for better health, “more nature” is a growing recommendation now, too.
As an example of this discussion, we found this video on the YouTube channel Talking with Docs, hosted by two Canadian orthopedic surgeons: Nature as Medicine: Why Doctors Are Prescribing the Outdoors. Watch:
A few key takeaways from this video:
“15 minutes sitting in a park can actually lower your cortisol levels…so from a dose response perspective, a little bit goes a long way.”
“Green space means you’re exposing yourself to greenery, so parks, forests. Blue space refers to all the green plus the water, and blue space has a little bit more of a relaxing effect, understandably.”
“You can benefit just from sitting in a green space, but typically, you’re moving when you’re outside. You’re going to be doing something—out in a boat paddling or hiking, running, cycling…So nature is linked with movement.”
“We have a lot of studies now showing that even short spurts in nature (but of course, the longer the better) reduce those stress hormones, and that completely mitigates your stress.”
“Time in nature is a great antidote for chronically being in front of a screen.”
There’s much more…and plenty of detailed information out there you can find with a quick online search.
So, the bottom line: If you need an excuse to go canoeing, you have it. Canoeing makes you healthier!
[This blog was first published in March 2019 and has been updated and expanded.]
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