Surprising Reasons to Play Sport

On a Google search of reasons to play sport, the two big reasons you should pick up a tennis racket or hockey stick are for health and fun. These reasons are great within their own right, but how else does sport contribute to wellbeing?

Today I played tennis with my partner. Two big things came up for me which showed me how great sport can be for wellbeing:

Challenging the ego

Firstly, I find that playing sport can easily damage my ego, especially when it is a one on one sport rather than a team sport. According to this post by Elyse Santilli, when your ego is in charge:

• You need validation
• You are easily bruised when things don't go your way
• You are consumed by emotions
• Your worth is dependent on external things

Winning is fun, but my ego puts a lot of pressure on me winning at things. Because I am very aware of it I find it enjoyable to notice my ego, let its pressures go and focus on what's really important. Today I made sure to remind myself that winning is not the important thing - enjoying spending time with my partner was the important thing today. 

Mindfulness

Firstly, sport is mindful. We scored, but after getting to 30-15 it was hard to stay on track and remember what our scores were. Remembering our scores and playing at the same time took up a lot of our focus, and distracting thoughts were continuously returned to the game and our scores. This distraction and returning of attention is very mindful and similar to meditation. 

Image from here