Dirk Barends wrote:

With canoeing one normally speaks about 'leaning',
and with kayaking one normally says 'edging' when you 'heel' a boat.
When I say 'leaning' I mean the action one has to do to make the boat
'heel', because you can also heel a canoe without leaning, for instance by
kneeling with two knees in the bilge. Furthermore you can make a difference
between a boat lean (a.k.a. J-lean) and a body lean (a.k.a. bell buoy
lean).

If I might offer a little gloss on the above. I think it's useful to
use the words "lean" and "edge/heel" (kayaks edge, open boats heel)
separately. Edging refers to the boat being other than flat on the
water. It does not refer to the position of the body and head, which
remain vertical and balanced. Leaning indicates that the head and body
are not vertical and not above the boat. Obviously, the boat will be
edged when you do this, unless you're in a very stable boat. You can
sustain an edge indefinitely, a lean results in a flip unless something
else--brace, bow, dock, whale--intervenes.

Another way to think about it: you edge your boat by diferentially
pulling/pushing with your knees; you lean by moving your torso
sideways.

Most of the time, edging is preferable. Low and high brace kayak turns
are the main places I would see a lean being used. So edge in to the
eddy, edge as a beam wave passes under you.

To the OP: in WW boats you generally edge into the turn, bicycle-wise,
although modern boats turn so easily it really doesn't matter, you can
stay flat except when crossing current differentials. In a sea kayak,
you edge to the outside of a sweep turn, so that (1) you turn quicker,
with less resistance and (2) you are supported by your sweeping paddle
blade.

Steve