This weekend we celebrate the end of summer at the Chatt Town Cool Down and making a return appearance Friday evening is the H2O Life’s Black Women Paddle event.
The H2O Life was founded in 2019 so that more women of color could come together to connect and reset in a safe space – the outdoors.
H2O Life founder, Shawanna Kendrick, said last year they took 38 paddlers, mostly first timers, out on the river. She is hoping to have at least 50 paddlers this year.
She said a few years ago, while at a paddle fest in North Carolina, she was talking to another African American woman who said she had never paddled with another black woman before.
“And that blew my mind,” Kendrick said. “If she had never paddled with a black woman before I wondered how many other black women there are, who have never paddled with another black woman.”
“I was not an outdoor person for the majority of my life,” she said. As a child she played outside, climbed trees and did the things kids normally do, but prior to forming the H2O Life she had never hiked, paddled a canoe, kayak or any watercraft.
“So, this was a new experience for me just embracing all the outdoors has to offer,” she said. “I can’t speak enough about the healing properties of nature. I know I have benefitted from it. The mental clarity that you receive when you spend as little as 10-minutes outside is just phenomenal. I don’t know the science behind it all, but I do know I always feel better. And I don’t want to dismiss feelings because that is a huge component of what I do and why I do it.”
She said she knows many women of color, of all ages have experienced hard times Many are just going through the motions of daily life, struggling internally. Many end up battling mental health issues.
“I mean the full gamut, from undiagnosed mental health issues to depression or anxiety, whatever it may be and eventually life has gotten the best of them,” she said. “And I am not okay with anyone suffering in silence or not having the access to the tools and resources to help them heal.”
Kendrick said the activities she plans outdoors helps create a safe and healing environment. A source of connection and community hiking through the woods, going camping, or paddling across a body of water.
“It is very organic and cannot really be designed to take place indoors,” she said about the healing effect.
In addition to Friday’s paddling event, Kendrick has planned a one-day retreat at Crabtree Farms on Sept. 14.
“We are going to tap into a lot of the things that may be weighing us down,” she said. “We know that stress can kill, and stressors can affect our bodies in different ways.”
Kendrick said the group will spend the day journaling, enjoy a farm to table lunch, learn stretching techniques to release stress and get pampered with a glacial facial courtesy of her partner R3 Chattanooga.
“We are going to have, what I call a ceremonial release of whatever may be keeping us from being the best versions of ourselves,” she said.
Everyone who attends the retreat will go home with an H2O Life kit.
“The goal here is to equip the women with the resources they can take home with them,” Kendrick said.
A new event is coming in October. Kendrick has put together a boating tour on the Tennessee River where participants will be treated to beautiful change in scenery as the fall foliage blooms across the horizon.
“I am expecting to see women just take in the beauty that surrounds us,” Kendrick said. “Especially for those who are born and raised in Chattanooga but really have not experienced all the beauty that Chattanooga offers. There is something about seeing our city from the river that is just unmatched.”
A bigger event is set for May 31, 2025, as H2O Life makes a second trip to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. A group of five women made the journey to Africa in June of 2024. Kendrick said this time the event will be open to men and women.
More to come on Mount Kilimanjaro soon.
To register for Friday’s paddle or other events visit the H2O Life website at: https://www.theh2o.life/