The Mental Health Benefits of Surfing
By: Alex Harmon
It’s likely you’re aware of surfing’s benefits on your physical health. But did you know it also improves your mental health? Surfing has been scientifically proven to decrease stress by clearing your mind, stabilising your emotions and boosting your mood.
Here at Waves of Wellness (WOW) we’ve seen it first-hand, throughout our evidence-based surf therapy programs over the years and we continue to be guided by international studies on the positive effects of salt water therapy. The Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice recently featured 12 academic studies[1] on the benefits of surf therapy on mental health.
Surfing can be an ethereal experience for your mind, body, soul, and during tough times it can be a welcome antidote to the stresses of everyday life.
Here are five of the mental health benefits of surfing…
1. Surfing Produces Joy
Catching a wave requires risk but it comes with great reward. When we conquer these walls of water our brain high fives us with a boost of dopamine - which we recognise as pleasure and joy. And it’s not just a quick hit, this happiness is sustained long after you’ve showered and put the board away. The thrill of catching a wave might only be seconds long but it lasts much longer than that in the mind. In his book Blue Mind, marine Biologist Dr Wallace J. Nichols discusses the scientific evidence of the ocean’s effect on mental health and wellbeing. The “blue mind” he describes is the mildly meditative state that water puts us in, helping us achieve elevated and sustained happiness. And this is without a surfboard…
2. Surfing Helps A Flexible Mindset
When you learn to surf you have to be prepared for wipeouts. After the hundredth time of falling into the ocean and resurfacing you start to think that falling down isn’t so bad. All of a sudden life doesn’t seem so serious. Even the littlest waves feel epic and even the hairiest wipeouts become hilarious. Your mind is shaping over time, just like your body. Being flexible allows us to problem solve and gain new perspectives on life. Being able to shift the elements of a problem in our mind is the first step to shedding the weight of negativity and building resilience. Cognitive flexibility, just like a flexible wetsuit, gives us the performance and agility to ride out even the most powerful and challenging of waves. In the ocean- and out of the ocean.
3. Surfing Helps Us Make Choices
One of the key elements to surfing is making the right wave choices. In the ocean we must be patient but also think on our feet - often while under pressure. We must overcome fears and take calculated risks. These are great life skills we’re learning. Making the right choices in the ocean can be the difference between a great surf (and therefore increased happiness) or a return to the sand feeling pretty sorry for yourself.
If you look at it from an elite level, such as surfing in a professional competition, wave selection is critical. Here, you’re not only dealing with the pressure of the arena, the crowd and your competitors, but being able to wait for the best waves of the heat can be key to out-surfing your opponent and winning. As they say, patience is a virtue.
4. Surfing Teaches You Respect For The Ocean
In surfing we quickly learn that there are forces greater than ourselves. You can't fight the ocean, but you can let it carry you. Surfers are at peace with this. They use the ocean’s natural pull to gravitate to the line up and then they let the force of the ocean push them onto the wave. Go against it and you’re just making everything harder for yourself.
Professional big wave surfers respect the ocean in the greatest sense, and they are always prepared for the worst. They have professionally trained water support, jet skis, life jackets, and inflatable rescue vests - so they're ready for whatever the ocean throws at them. If you think you can take on big waves without being prepared, you’ll soon regret it! Surfing will humble you.
5. Surfing Helps You Seek Mindfulness
Surfing requires pure concentration, and forces you to be completely in the moment, aware of your surroundings, your body and the ocean. Surfing is mindfulness in action. You’re meditating in the ocean and you’re completely in the zone, or what is known as the ‘flow state’. It’s also one of the few times in life we’re not attached to a device. Completely unwired. The only thing you’re attached to out here is your legrope.
At WOW we incorporate guided mindfulness sessions as part of our programs, helping our participants to pause and reframe their perspective. We find that people leave the beach with a greater sense of calm, relaxation and clarity throughout their day. The only thing they look back on are the waves!
Find out more about our surf therapy programs here.
[1] Sarkisian, G. V., Walter, K. H., Martínez, G., & Ward, P. B. (2020). Introduction to the Special Issue on Surf Therapy Around the Globe. Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice, 11(2), 1 – 10. Retrieved 18/05/2020, from (http://www.gjcpp.org/).