At 12:10pm every Wednesday the, ‘No wetsuit Wednesday’ crew convene for an ocean swim. Winter is less comfortable, but the health rewards are even greater. We swim 1,000m around Moturiki Island (aka Leisure Island) on the beach side of Mt. Maunganui. The transformative sea swim takes 20 to 30 minutes depending on the tide, and how many stops we make for rock jumping or to appreciate the sea life. It’s the perfect mid-week enhancement. We all look forward to it, enjoy the soul nourishment the ocean delivers, and revel in the increased focus and productivity we all experience that 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 exit the ocean a better person than when you entered. A wellness baptism that helps combat the stress and anxiety of life in modern society. Numerous studies show the health benefits. Research* suggests that ocean swimming helps to balance out the building positive electrical charge (from excessive free radicals creating inflammation), 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 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.
If you swim in winter, 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’re near the ocean or a lake during winter get into it to improve multiple health metrics – even start by turning the shower 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 earth’s surface, supply up to 70% of all our oxygen, absorb 25% of human-emitted CO2 (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 humankinds only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: we are all in the same boat.”
~ Jacques Yves Cousteau
Unfortunately, our lifestyles are creating the rising anxiety, distress, and disease that drives us into the ocean. 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.
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 burning these warms and acidifies the ocean. 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.
It’s frighteningly ironic that our busy consumeristic lifestyle gives us anxiety, depression, and chronic lifestyle disease – to cope we use the ocean to defrag and replenish; and the same systems we live by create global disease decimating the ocean, along with the entire natural world that depends on it.
If you love the ocean how about we change our lifestyles, and the outdated systems we live by, to allow seven generations from us to enjoy it.
Some ways we can live our values and love our earth and ocean:
Move away from fossil fuel use. The warming effect is too much to bear. We need to champion the use of cycles, public transport, EVs, and move away from being car centric with policy and daily action.
Stop large commercial fishing operations. Ban bottom trawling. We don’t need to eat fish as often as recommended. Treat fish like an absolute luxury food option. The best way to preserve the ocean – leave its inhabitants alone!
Regenerative farming methods. We must change what we do on land to save the sea. We must drastically limit synthetic fertiliser use and work more in harmony with the soil. NZ needs to stop using synthetic fertiliser to grow grass to turn into milk, then use coal to dry the milk and ship off powder. We export 95% of milk production and 70% of that is low commodity powder.
Stop single use plastic use. Buy from companies that use sustainable packaging. We’ve produced 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic since 1950 and only recycled 9%. The rest is breaking down within our oceans, wildlife, and ultimately us. We are destroying our home and us along with it.
Brad Dixon is a Holistic Physiotherapist, Wellness Evangelist & Endurance Coach, Author of ‘Holistic Human’, Magazine contributor, Content creator, Plant powered athlete. Follow Brad’s work, recipes, advice and buy his book at: www.everfit.co.nz.
The Kiwi Diary 2023 features 16 articles designed to inspire and inform, on how to live in ways that care for people and the environment, for the benefit of all, and future generations.