My Love For Kayaking And How It's Helped Tame My Anxiety

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I can feel the warm breeze glide across my face. My skin tingles and a little shudder goes throughout my entire body. I smell the water and sea-salt in the air and the subtle taste of sunscreen hits my lips. I feel the cold droplets of water hit my skin as I glide my paddle into the water. The boat rocks back and forth a bit and I hear ducks and geese nearby. This is being outside on a warm, beautiful sunny day. This is kayaking. 

I've always loved being in the water. I started when I was just three years old and have been obsessed with water sports ever since. I'm thankful my parents had me swimming at a very young age because it instilled lifelong, instinctive survival skills in me. Water baby for life! I've tried various water sports, including SUP, but kayaking has always intrigued me. This summer we decided it was time to take our lust for kayaking to the next level. We invested a lot of money into some fabulous kayaks and I'm grateful we've been able to spend nearly every weekend out on the water. 

It's no secret that I struggle with GSD a.ka. generalized anxiety disorder. A fluffy name for something that's actually quite serious and can be completely debilitating in my daily life. I go from one minute being completely okay to the next minute having a serious panic attack. Eating healthy foods, running, and working out works wonders to tame it, but I've found another activity that really helps manage it too.

And that's Kayaking.

Kayaking has helped bring my daily anxiety level down from a high 20 to a manageable 8. Even better than it helping me with my anxiety is that I get to do it with my best friend. My husband Shane is literally the yin-to-my-yang. I'm not sure what I would do without him and his calming demeanor has been especially helpful since my anxiety has nearly taken over in the last year and a half.

Shane is amazing. Even on the weekend's when we have wedding's and he's worked 60+hours the week leading up, he never says no to anything, even kayaking. He also didn't think I was crazy when I told him we were buying kayaks on fourth of July weekend. We were basically hooked after the first weekend we rented kayaks and decided that we must invest in some so that we could save on the costly rental fee's and take them with us wherever we want. Also? We are both huge outdoor enthusiast's so any excuse to explore a new lake or campground, we are game for! 

We are lucky to live in an area that is surrounded by water and we have access to a lake that is 20-minutes from our house. Easy access for sure! What I love most about kayaking is being outside. I'm a much happier person outside with my main squeeze. I love seeing everything around me and feeling the warm sun on my skin. I love interacting with the ducks and having hilarious conversations with them. Yup. I'm that girl. I love that we can kayak for a relaxing 2-miles and take a picnic with us or we go all out and go for a powerful 20-miles exploring all the nooks and crannies of the rivers and lakes.

What I adore most about kayaking is spending un-interrupted time with Shane. I love how we can talk and have long conversations about anything and everything. I love how we can just be together on our kayaks and watch the sunset and bask in the beauty of what mother nature gives us for free every single day. I love how we can make jokes and laugh about everything. I love how calm I feel when I'm out on the water and how nothing really get's to me. My anxiety seems far away hidden in a dark door somewhere that no longer needs to be opened. I love how it's just easy. Easy to be loved. Easy to be out on the water. Easy to be. 

I also love this beautiful outfit provided to me by prAna via Fit Approach. This Filament tank top is a must-have for all of my outdoor adventures. I love that I can sport this while rock climbing and in the water kayaking. It dries quickly so no stress at all if it happens to get wet and it's got a built-in sports bra, perfect for all of those outdoor adventures! Need comfy pants for fall? These super versatile Uptown Pant's in Cargo Green are the perfect color for fall and are oh so comfy! I love how I can go from hiking to kayaking to climbing to date night in these pants and everything in between!

You can snag this adorable outfit for 15% off using my code FAJE15. I'm currently lusting over this for my upcoming Canada trip and this for all of my outdoor adventures this fall! 

What are you looking forward to during this gorgeous fall season? 

These clothes were gifted to me by prAna via Fit Approach. As always, all opinions and content are my own.