Surf’s up for mental health with LIVIN and Dragon Australia

The awesome team at Dragon Australia hosted a surf trip with a difference with the primary focus on one thing – and it wasn’t catching waves.

The Dragon’s Mental Team Trip was all about bringing together a bunch of their Dragon ambassadors and athletes to discuss and promote positive conversations about mental health and the tour kicked off with a LIVINWell session on the Gold Coast to get the ball rolling.

LIVIN Co-Founder Sam Webb delivered the LIVINWell Program at Dragon HQ and was blown away by the commitment of the entire team at Dragon Australia and their dedication about breaking the stigma surrounding speaking up about mental health. “It was an amazing workshop and a great few days to have the Dragon Team come from around Australia and New Zealand together with some of the LIVIN team. We were super grateful for the opportunity and a big High Five to Dragon for taking the initiative, and for taking, what I feel, is probably the most important first step forward in trading conversations around mental illness.”

With the trip spanning over three days as the Dragon team travelled along the East Coast of Australia, the tour offered a relaxed and comfortable environment for conversations to flow freely with no fear of judgement.

Pro-surfer Adrian ‘Ace’ Buchan was one of the athletes that attended the LIVINWell Program before embarking on the #DontHideBehindYourShades Dragon Team Trip.  “I think as surfers too, we’re so lucky to have this lifestyle and we have these incredible highs. But it also means the low are potentially a lot lower because we’re used to the adrenaline rush of doing what we do.  Those awkward conversations when you kind of feel like you’re putting yourself out of your comfort zone, so you often don’t, but when you do it often, for me, I’ve found I’ve kind of grown the most as a person.”

Other Dragon athletes that attended the program included Owen Wright, Barney Miller, Kehu Butler, Caleb Tancred, Noah Stocce and Xavier Huxtable.

Whilst only a small part of their three day team trip, the LIVINWell Program provided the perfect introduction and foundation for the days ahead with mental health and self-care at the forefront of the conversation.

“There are heaps of different ways to learn to identify mental health and manage it. With what we’re doing, competing and travelling a lot, we can’t do it on our own and we have to not be too proud to ask for help.” Xavier Huxtable.

Click here to Check out the full video of the #DontHideBehindYourShades Dragon Team trip and get inspired to speak up!