The vitalizing sea: embodiment and wellbeing on a sea-kayak journey

Abstract

This paper aims to explore interconnections of outdoor activities and subjective wellbeing by investigating sea-kayaking, dynamic forms of vitality, salutogenesis and Integrated Quality of Life (IQOL). The research was participatory and based on in-depth qualitative interviews, during and after a seven-day sea-kayaking journey. It took place in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland 2018 among a group of six outdoor education undergraduate students. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to identify sea-kayakers lived nature-experiences in an inductive manner. Forms of vitality in the sea-environment influence embodied sensory perceptions and emotional/affective states. Yet each situation and the responses they cause appear highly subjective. This study suggests that sea-kayaking has vitalizing implications on subjective wellbeing, yet experiences also contain ambiguities and negative feelings. The embeddedness in dynamic, ecological connections at sea, provides constructive potentials and opportunities for the development of wellbeing.