Sport and physical activity is more than just a way to extend a health life. Physical activity can be a way to reconnect with ourselves, our communities, and our surroundings. Team sports and group activities reinforce the ties that bind us to each other, help us form life-long friendships, foster a sense of belonging in participants, and help develop and nurture important life-skills. For some, participating in sports forms a core of their self-identity and is part of what makes them who they are. The members of the H’ulh-etun Health Society pride themselves in the value team sports bring to their lives and the community. With the advent of the H’ulh-etun Outrigger Canoe club, they’re truly living with wellness.
Currently, with a roster of 17 paddlers, the H’ulh-etun Outrigger Canoe club has committed to a rigorous training schedule of three to four times each week, and members are beginning to see tremendous results in their physical fitness. Involvement in the club has been spiritually beneficial as well. The H’ulh-etun Health Society underwent a difficult period that impacted many of the staff that dedicate their time to the organization. The Outrigger Canoe club represented an incredibly positive change in many of their lives, bringing forth a sense of pride and acting as a focal point for team building. Truly, getting out on the water has been a nurturing and healing process.
"My cardio is improving and I am getting stronger every day. Through canoeing, I am becoming spiritually and mentally the happiest and most complete I have ever been. After paddling, I smile for about an hour straight and feel all heaviness lifted from my spirit," said one of the participants.
However, as we all know, it can get pretty cold on Vancouver Island in the winter, and some members were concerned that this drop in temperature would be detrimental to their training. Needing help, the H’ulh-etun Health Society reached out to the FNHA for a Winter Wellness grant, to help pay for a certain number of indoor training sessions, gear and equipment, and travel back and forth from Chemainus to Nanaimo for practice. In addition, the H’ulh-etun Health Society began to run Fit Nation Classes weekly, as well as providing dietitian services, and Elders smudging.
The H’ulh-etun Outrigger Canoe club has since participated in a number of races, came in a close second in the latest one, and are highly motivated to be their personal best next time.
"There was so many positive changes I only wish it was feasible to have this program all year round. Participants gained self-esteem, confidence, strength, weight loss…the list can go on," said a member of the team.
The FNHA is honoured to have been a small part of this tremendously valuable program, and looks forward to hearing more stories of wellness from the the H’ulh-etun Health Society in the future.