TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | MARCH 2018 7
By Allie Hayser
How Surfing Can Heal Your
MIND & BODY
Paddling out into the vastness of the big mama ocean blue provides
mental and physical benefits to her dedicated surfers. Tybee surfers
are a special tribe. We don’t always have perfect conditions, but not
one of us ever regrets paddling out into the sea, whether we walked
down the block or drove out from in-town. Surfers and swimmers
build this almost inexplicable relationship with the ocean. All of us are
drawn to her for our own personal reasons. Some to heal our minds and
emotions, work up a sweat and get some vitamin D on our skin, stay
in shape, paddle off laziness left over from long times away, wipeout
and cleanse ourselves of the daily stresses of land life, catch up and
connect with others in her tribe, or to just tune out of external thoughts
and internally work to further our skills as surfers.
“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever”
– Jacques Cousteau
Patience and Focus: You are constantly learning to wait for waves
(especially where we live on the east coast), turtle rolling and duckdiving
through messy sets, working against currents, going through
your own personal highs-and-lows, and riding on whatever conditions
you are given. Working with such unpredictable immense power allows
you to let go of the things that you cannot (and maybe should try not
to) control. Every movement on the wave is a direct cause of many
little tweaks and postures with your body and the board. Being able to
work on the little things in surfing, that may take you months or just
a matter of days to get down, gives you the drive, the drive to tackle
things, a focus. This gives us a release from our internal dialogues of
everyday land-things and allows a deeper state in your mind. There
are no group chats, Facebook messages, work emails, deadlines, calls
from your high-tech phones, snapchats, doorbells, car horns, traffic
lights, or breaking news. It’s only the ocean and you.
“The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea.”
– Isak Dinesen
Physical Exercise: Other than the obvious reasons to surf, like fun
and peace and all that jazz, the body obtains this natural euphoria from
the release of endorphins which lightens your inner weights on your
mind, brightens your mood, and creates lasting energy. Paddling works
on your shoulders, back, and inner arm muscles. Riding waves will
get those hamstrings, quads, glutes, and all these little inner muscles
moving that you never knew existed. Balance while paddling and riding
waves targets your core.
“When anxious, uneasy and bad thoughts come, I go to the sea, and the
sea drowns them out with its great wide sounds, cleanses me with its
noise, and imposes a rhythm upon everything in me that is bewildered
and confused.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
Emotions: When you get in the zone, the stress or past traumas of
land-life dissolve into the healing salty sea. These negative emotions
are washed into the depths of the ocean which is more powerful,
bigger, and heavier than anything existing in our own human individual
experience. The ocean provides this stability, a constant refuge from
the inner struggles of life, where you can work things out and know
where to turn to over and over again. Try taking a million waves on your
head and fretting about your taxes still. Flipside, hit the north jetty on a
rad day with your friends and you’ll forget all about work undone. After
getting all of your emotions and energy out in the surf, you will hit the
deepest level of hibernation-like rest when you go to sleep that night.
“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to
find the ways in which you yourself have altered.” – Nelson Mandela
I originally thought about these things while I was working for
CHICABRAVA Surf Retreats down in Nicaragua. We would work with
women to get them stoked on surfing and riding waves by the end of
their week with us, but we also would help them deal with internal or
physical issues and establish a positive, healthy connection with surfing
in the sea. Here, I was away from all of my family and friends from
home. I adored the people I met down there, the instructors I taught
with, the owner of the company, clients who quickly became fellow
ocean friends, and my best pal/love, Chapu, a 6’10 surfboard. When I
was depressed, anxious, happy, worried, loved, sad, angry, homesick,
or feeling dull, there was always surfing and Chapu. Wherever you
travel or move to, once you establish a connect that fills your heart and
balances your mind, there’s nothing you can’t handle. My connection
with the ocean and surfing has allowed me to return to places changed
or unchanged, travel solo, and move to new places to work on the
things that I can change in myself and to understand the things that
aren’t able to be changed.
During your surf practices and experiences, you’ll feel the draw to the
sea the more you allow yourself to be. Let it be that place for you and
it always will be. Many times we need the ocean to be there and not
every day will be filled with sunshine and swell, but if we surrender
and allow ourselves to give into the immensity – positivity and balance
always wins.
For more info on CHICABRAVA visit: http://www.chicabrava.com/
Need any advice on surf trippin’ to Nicaragua, ask me!
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