Committed to Destigmatizing Mental Health Challenges
Stay Gold is defined by the Urban Dictionary as “being true to yourself, innocent, uncorrupted, unblemished”. Lavender Counselling is honored to introduce the Stay Gold Ju Jitsu and Fitness Academy where they are deeply committed to destigmatizing mental health challenges and to helping those who train there ‘Stay Gold’.
Chronic stress is a public health crisis (American Psychological Association, 2011). Thirty percent of people ages 35 to 54 describe their lives as “extremely stressful” (Statistics Canada, Perceived Life Stress Survey, 2014). One third of kids, grades 7-12, have moderate to extreme levels of psychological distress (Andersen, 2016). One in five people live with a mental health struggle so debilitating that it interferes with their lives. By the time we are 40, about 50% of the population will have or have had a mental illness (Mental Health Commission of Canada, 2013). We are a society striving to do our best, but drowning.
Our emotions, mood, and feelings can be positively impacted by athletic performance (Hanin, 2000). The World Health Organization (WHO) highlights sports as one way to re-balance ourselves (Mastnak, 2016). The endorphins released through physical exercise reduces our experiences of pain, and triggers a positive feeling in the body. Regular exercise has also been shown to ward off anxiety and depression.
Martial arts training, specifically, has a number of positive mental health advantages such as improvements in both self esteem (Fuller, 1988), and emotional stability and assertiveness (Konzak and Boudreau, 1984). Participating in martial arts training has shown reductions in anxiety and depression (Cai, 2000), impulsiveness, and aggression (Zivin et. al., 2001). It provides a framework though which people can take action in their own lives; they to learn to define goals, and how to act on them (Ann, 2011). Participants in martial arts experience the benefits of being empowered in life (Ann, 2011). Bruce Lee (1997) described martial arts as a sport which cultivates the mind. Martial arts training also instills moral values and holds people accountable to a way of living their lives.
So, whether you’ve hit a bump in your mental health road or not, we encourage you to join the Stay Gold family where you can begin working towards optimal health and wellness.
