Duotone Mag 2024

Happiness Board sports enthusiasts have a higher experience of self-worth than let’s say marathon runners. Marathon runners measure themselves against their race time. For the quality of the experience, however, performance is irrelevant. Marathon running is also relatively simple. You simply run as straight as possible without exchanging experiences within a group. Board water sports are much more challenging and complex, you’re part of a community that takes you forward, with adventure and risk. It’s a very different level of excitement. It’s an excitement that you don’t get with normal types of sport, in normal interactions with people. This is the first time in my 20 years of research that I’ve faced this extreme amplitude. In my research, we measure excitement on a scale from - 100 to + 100. Normally, people are somewhere on the border of satisfaction and the first level of excitement with a touch of joy, between 20 and 40. With board water sports like Kiteboarding, Windsurfing, Wing Foiling we’re talking about a level of excitement of 70 or 80, almost the top of the scale, and this is what gives people this really incredible kick. Dr. Peter Lensker WHY Stoke Personal development means inspiration. Kiters, wing foilers, windsurfers experience the power of nature, which moves and accelerates you, with every session on the water. Each session is a mini adventure. You become almost like a plaything of nature, with the risk of never quite knowing what’s going to happen. You have to be brave. It’s exciting, and you feel the strength you gain when you’re playing with nature. Nature is unpredictable and powerful. The fact that I’m exposing myself to this risk ultimately leads to development, and to me gaining strength as a person. A special flow develops when my abilities match precisely what I’m doing, I am taken up in doing it with 100 percent concentration. I mustn’t be over-challenged, but I mustn’t be under-taxed either. Through my activity, I get a little bit better every time, and by doing so I shift the challenge a little bit. When you engage in this type of sport, you find yourself in a constant, positive spiral of development. The continual improvement, the constant development; it creates more than just happiness. You are also able to develop potential that you otherwise might not even be aware you had. This is ultimately experiencing your self-worth. Self-worth creates joy. And associated with joy is the positive activation of the body and mind. It is a positive experience, I’m excited by it. You could also call it stoke, the highest form of joy and excitement. Dr. Peter Lensker Dr. med. Simon Senner is a doctor, psychotherapist and psychiatrist, the head physician of a large clinic on Lake Constance, Germany and a specialist in mental disorders. Walter Hommelsheim is a coach, Mediator and Alternative Practitioner for Psychotherapy, training and qualifying Inspiration Coaches all over Europe. Dr. Fabian Pels conducts research at the Institute of Psychology at the renowned German Sport University cologne on various topics in the social and health psychology of sport. Dr. Peter Lensker , scientist and consultant, has been researching the subject of happiness for over 20 years, and takes into account the relevance of various factors to measure people’s feelings of happiness. Attitude Board sports men and women are training per se to make use of all the different possibilities, to be flexible and creative with them – not only on the water, but in life as well. They use the power of nature for their joy and fun instead of trying to fight it. Here’s a synonym from the surf that I love to quote in my seminars. See life as a surf session: I can go head-to-head with the wave, I can try to fight it, fight the other surfers in the line-up, and be negative about everything around me. It’s too crowded, the waves are sh**, it’s too little wind and so forth. Or: I maximize my fun through what’s there. That you can respond to an opportunity one way or another is something board sports men and women experience all the time. It’s no fun to fight the wind and it’s no fun to fight the waves. The key is to use the power to your advantage. It’s the same in life: To open the blinders out more and more. To start noticing all the opportunities that life offers and to have more faith in oneself for all aspects of life. It’s about learning to consider things possible that you haven’t before, in your relationships, partnerships, in your job and the relationship within yourself. To embrace the challenges each new day brings, just like in a surf session. To make the best of everything that comes your way. Those who live this way live happier and experience more, because they are not fighting life. When you fight life, life will send you enemies. Go with the flow instead and you create a happy life for yourself. Walter Hommelsheim Open Board sports enthusiasts live this openness and are curious and open to diversity. That applies to all of them: surfers, windsurfers, kiters, wing foilers, surf foilers. They connect cross-culturally with the diversity of nature. It’s a basic principle of our sport: no wave is ever the same nor is the wind. There is always this great variety of possibilities in our sport. For example in tennis, it’s the total contrary, the court never moves nor does the net lift up or lower. In board sports constant change is perfectly normal and it’s simply part of the sport. This flexibility to adapt to and be at ease with constant change characterizes board sports enthusiasts – that’s their mindset. Walter Hommelsheim Photo  Ben Thouard Photo  John Carter D U O T O N E D U O T O N E 136 W H Y W H Y