Being a Notion consultant and personal assistant I'm so trained to protocol standard operating procedures (SOP) that I first mistyped the title of this article.
But this article is not about SOPs, but about Stand-up Paddling (SUP).
It took me many (!) years to figure out what kind of leisure or sports activities I really enjoy doing. For ages I knew what is best to burn fat or to reduce my back pains. I had a technical approach to it and as a result of it, I didn't like sports. Because it was a must, a ToDo to check off, a chore.
Mind you, I have a very successful track record of defending myself against chores.
What if, when it was so pleasurable that I didn't need to remind myself of doing it. What if, I was naturally drawn to it because there was no need convincing any part of me in doing it so.
What if I mastered first finding pleasure and making that process nothing but pleasurable?
A few years back I booked a SUP and Yoga week package with a small group of people I didn't know at the Algarve (Portugal).
I learned the basics and by day three, I hardly fell off the board anymore. That was also thanks to the daily Yoga classes that focused on building core strength.
It took me a few years until I finally bought my own board in 2018. The fun thing about SUP is it's like riding a bicycle - once you’ve learned it you won’t forget it.
I bought an inflatable board, a paddle and a pump. Threw it into the back of my car and headed for the lake of Zurich. Pumping up your board is a great warm-up and exercise and sometimes it happens that a gentleman offers his help voluntarily. Which I find funny - but hey, why not!
Because of space and transportation. My car isn’t that long and I didn’t want to also install and uninstall (winter time) roof racks.
Once I’m on lake Zurich or lake Greifensee, I enjoy the silence. If you go in the early hours the water is flat like an iron and the soon the public transportation ships take their turns on the lake, you’ll notice the change. You will have much more small waves to tackle from different directions. But, all not too demanding.
What I particularly like about it is, beside the silence, is you get to peek into the garden of the luxus homes directly built at the lake! On the golden coast (right side) of lake Zurich, you could in theory, pass by Tina Turner's garden. It’s where she also got married.
On the other hand, paddling over lake Greifensee you get to see wildlife from the water side. This lake has many shores that are still left to nature and no gardens or platforms are built into the reed. But don’t get too close and leave the water birds in peace.
Speaking of peace; I enjoy going on to lake Greifensee during summer months. Most people stay at the shores or at dedicated public open-air baths which makes them really crowded.
Lake Greifensee, looking towards central Switzerland with its ⛰️
Lake Greifensee, looking towards central Switzerland with its ⛰️
I pack my drinking water, maybe a snack and a hat, for the sun, and go for a ride. Once I feel like taking a break, I take a swim and then relax on the board. You can do this also as a group and connect your boards with rods to a small board island.
When I’m on my board I feel like that viral TikTok. Now I have a melody to that feeling and hum it along while floating on water.
I can regulate the intensity of it. It starts with pumping up my board; either doing it fast or slow, paddle standing, kneeling or sitting or paddle faster or slower.
Sometimes I kneel and do a hard workout to train my upper body. And at the end I simply can sit on it and enjoy the scenery.
The quirky thing about paddling on Lake Zurich is that, I can go down the Schanzengraben (a moat to prevent the invasion of the city) until shortly before the public bath for men (well, during the day and at night it becomes a bar or a trendy market) and my former workplace.
If you’re even more into feeling good about yourself; collect the rubbish that’s floating around and dispose of it once back on land. It’s not much what I see, but during hot summers there is more in the water and in particular when the Streetparade is on.
Besides the flexibility to alter the intensity of the sport, it requires good swimming skills (some countries demand life jackets and leash), you can build a good core strength. Balancing on the board and balancing incoming waves provides a subtle training to your core muscles. Some even practise Yoga on their boards. I recommend doing that on still water ;-) By racing you can also train your upper body and define your upper arms.
While writing this article I wondered where Stand-up Paddling originates from. It’s not clear when and by whom. One day a person decided to just stand instead of sitting in a vessel.
The Italians have their gondolieri, lumberman found it easier transporting the loggs down the river, the peruvian have their small boats made out of grass or a in China, Guizhou Province, they only need a big bamboo tree the size of my leg.
Get a dry suit and paddle during winter time, discover other lakes and rivers in Switzerland and maybe create a lazy-SUP group over at Meetup.com.
Or skip that all-together and spend more time in a country with sea and warmer weather.
Not Zurich, not even Switzerland - but Lake of Zurich looks very similar ;-)
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Illustration by Roxana Rodriguez
Article by: Natascha Buck
Natascha Buck is a Notion Ambassador for the German speaking communities.
As a consultant I help small sized businesses to focus on what matters most for them. Getting the stuff done and having fun (again) making money!
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Photos from Unsplash, Zurich public bath directory and Greifensee.org.
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