In August last year, Dragon brought together a bunch of athletes from all over Australia and NZ for 3 action-packed days of surfing, hanging out at the Surfing Australia High Performance Centre and participating in a LIVINWell mental health workshop. run by Co-Founder, Sam Webb, and LIVIN ambassadors. Featuring the likes of global athletes Owen Wright and Ace Buchan, as well as regional up and comers Kehu Butler, Xavier Huxtable, Caleb Tancred and Noah Stocca, our Mental Team Trip campaign aims to normalise the conversation around mental health in our community.

#DontHideBehindYourShades – Dragon’s Mental Team Trip from Dragon Australia on Vimeo.

The key message behind the edit – #Don’tHideBehindYourShades – aims to encourage you to speak up if you’re struggling, and check in regularly with your mates and family.  “I had to have something significant happen to me to realise that it’s ok to talk about it and ask for help” says Owen Wright, speaking openly to team during the trip about his personal battles managing his mental health over the past 18 months.

The more we talk about mental health, the easier the conversation becomes, with the positive impact of being open about mental health evident even on the trip itself with Caleb Tancredo reporting,”hearing them open up makes you feel like you can open up too.”

Help Dragon get this message out there by watching and sharing this edit, and using the hashtag #DontHideBehindYourShades and LIVIN’s #ItAintWeakToSpeak– and collectively we can take down the stigma surrounding mental illness, improving the lives of our community.

@dragonausnz

@livinorg

#Don’tHideBehindYourShades

#ItAin’tWeakToSpeak