On one hand I see immediately how they may relate. Not necessarily dragon boat racing perhaps. But then why not? Dragonboat paddling or racing is simply a sport which increases fitness and engagement with the world. I guess jogging does that too. I'm not suggesting that dragon boat racing is the ONLY sport to enhance health (and therefore mental health) but because I love it, I think that its a great sport because;
- it increases health and wellness through increasing fitness
- it increases the feeling of fitness and wellness and capability in the world
- it increases flexibility and muscle strength
- it encourages focus on the NOW, on each element of each stroke right now as you are doing it
- it puts paddlers and crew (except the Drummer facing forwards, looking at your goal
- it teaches synchronicity, how to work in a cooperative way with others towards reaching a common goal
- it encourages commitment to shared goals and encourages team focus
- it exposes paddlers to fresh air, sunshine and the environment
- it exposes paddlers to sunshine which contributes to Vit D synthesis
- it helps the body clock and emotional clock reset itself and so helps with sleep and in fighteng depression
- it requires mainly gross motor skills and so can be performed well by a person with tremor
- it can be performed at a high level by a person with leg or foot injury
- it facilitates interaction with other people hence increasing opportunities for personal feedback and improvement.
I don't think mental health can actually be separated from anything, so integral is it to everything we do.
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