Which is

The Best Seat in the House?

A recent study indicates that the more we sit the more we shorten our lives. This may be a bit alarming to those of us involved in a sport that requires sitting. What to do?

I don't know if I write this wearing my doctor's, paddler's or philosopher's hat. Perhaps I need all three. That would allow me to express my rather strong feelings on the subject. So...

The doctor agrees that couch potatoes do not do well health-wise. Our children sit too much while only exercising their thumbs and eating crappy food. They get obese and develop the metabolic syndrome which makes them highly eligible for diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. And...

The paddler knows that when he or she sits in their boat, they are usually exercising, elevating their heart rates and not worrying about mundane things left ashore. As it turns out, the paddler and the doctor are in agreement and recognize that all sitting is not equal. In the end, however, it is the philosopher that may know the answer.

Someone once wrote, "A poor life this when when full of care we have no time to sit and stare." We are way to much with this world, way too connected and way too much tuned in. My college students cannot study well, in part, because they cannot turn off their phones, i pods and all those other things that sit on the edge of their consciousness and of which they are constantly aware, whether they know it or not. In stark contrast to the study cited above, the philosopher knows that not sitting, at least properly, actually shortens one's life. And, if it doesn't shorten life, a lack of proper sitting certainly robs the soul of some of the joy of life.

For ever, wise people have done nothing but sit, at least for a while, on their meditation benches, pillows or grass. They have sat and watched the trees bend in the wind. They have sat with their eyes shut and focused on their breathing. They have sat and emptied their minds of the mundane world and sought the sacredness of hearing the calling of their souls. And, in the end, it may not have mattered if they lived longer because they lived richer.

Paddle safe...

DS