The sea is a positive force
Before we even get into the activity of sailing, simply being beside and on the water helps to lift and revive me. Perhaps it's the fresh air, perhaps it's the sound of the water, perhaps it's the sun or the abundance of natural light that's reflected off the water. We all know how important Vitamin D is for our well-being.I'm sure it's also in part due to the sea air. It's full of negative hydrogen ions,which improve our ability to absorb oxygen and can also help balance our serotonin levels (the so-called 'feelgood hormone'). Plus sea water is a good decongestant, with strong antihistamine effects - so it's even good for hay fever, sinus infections and colds.
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| Just the sea itself is a positive force. |
Dinghy sailing is a thorough physical workout
Even on a purely physical level, dinghy sailing is far more of a workout than a simple run. The variety of twists, turns and different burst of activity offer a full and varied workout. They stretch me out in a way that only yoga comes close. It's only when you really sit and think about it that you realise just how much of the body a dinghy race will exercise.There's rigging and launching the boat. Hoisting the sails. Hiking, leaning out, moving in and out and twisting to look ahead or behind, for marks, win or other boats. There are the hoists, tacks, gybes, trimming the sails. It uses pretty much every part of the body. No wonder sailors are among the fittest athletes at the Olympics.
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| Sailing is very physical using every part of the body, it's hardly surprising that sailors are among the fittest Olympic ahletes. Photo Richard Langdon/British Sailing Tea,. |
Sailing is my meditation
Add in a third factor; not just a a workout for the body more importantly, sailing is a workout for the mind. Sailing is so all-consuming, that it really works as a complete shut-off from life. Why is that?Well, your brain is asked to continually multi-tasking. 'What's the wind doing? Where are the other boats? What's the course? Is that more breeze over that or just a tide line? What is the tide doing? Am I ready for the hoist? Oh we've got some waves, ease that sheet, bear off a little, back in flat water, back on the wind again. Are we going to make the mark? Just, maybe... if we're lucky. There's that pesky 300, he's a bit close. Oooh, breeze is up, time to hike. How's our speed? I can see the mark, looks like there's not much tide on it, must be pretty much high tide. Ok, so on the run we need to watch out for it turning...'
Some of this is verbal communications, some internal thoughts, one after another, continually occupying your brain as you work physically to get the most out of the boat, and so it goes on, usually for the whole race. Get ashore and it's as though you've been meditating. The world is still there, but for a brief moment it disappeared completely.
There you have it, three reasons why sailing is so key to keeping us happy and healthy.
