Duotone Mag 2024

Copy Bernd Zerelles W WHY Why board water sports lead to a happy life Four specialists in the field of mental health describe why kitesurfers, windsurfers, wing foilers are so passionate about their sport and why board water sport is stimulating for our well-being. Passion This deep drive that every board sports enthusiast feels is this famous virus of wind sports, that out of an incomprehensible motivation you say: I have to do this, I want to experience and feel this again. That comes from a deep self. This is called intrinsic motivation, the motivation that comes from deep within a person. There’s a fire blazing inside you that leads you to set out for the spot, perhaps even in spite of a mediocre forecast. Board water sport releases happiness hormones, endorphins, in the brain that leave such a lasting impression on us that we can’t help but want to do it again. This distinguishes board sports enthusiasts from extrinsically motivated people, who do not strive for a feeling, but for a concrete thing. The intrinsic drive, the experience, is infinitely stronger, makes you much more satisfied, lasts longer and also carries you over setbacks. The motivation is fed by the experience itself again and again. Dr. Simon Senner Focus When we coordinate complex movements like we see in board water sports, we are automatically prevented from brooding and negative, depressive thoughts, because our brain cannot complete both tasks at the same time. When we move and coordinate the body mechanically, the motor cortex is engaged in the brain. This precludes us from using our frontal brain at the same time. The frontal brain is where the worry, fear, negative and depressive thoughts arise. The brain has to decide: do I move my body and coordinate this or do I worry about my future and ponder how I will pay off my debts. It can only do one or the other. When I’m on the water and have to reconcile kite, wing, sail, board, water and wave, I can’t fit in the conflict with a colleague at work or the relationship problem. Sitting at home on the sofa and staring at the TV, of course you can brood, your frontal brain can work on negative thoughts and this is how mental illnesses can develop and blossom. Dr. Simon Senner Flow Experiencing a session in sport harmoniously, perfectly coordinated, seemingly effortless, and as if in a flow – that’s what science calls a flow experience. When we do a water sport, like Kitesurfing, Windsurfing, Wing Foiling, which we have been doing for a long time, and in a way, we are already experts in it, we regulate and control our actions rather unconsciously. When we are in such unconscious regulation systems, where everything is almost automated and smootly running, then we not only get into this flow, but we intuitively notice: The others must feel the same way; it is now something very special that is happening here. This takes place unconsciously but still creates a connection. This is further strengthened when we talk about it with others afterward, consciously reflecting on the challenging conditions we mastered in the joint session. Dr. Fabian Pels Photo  Ben Thouard D U O T O N E D U O T O N E 132 133 W H Y W H Y