SPIRITUAL LIFE LESSONS LEARNED FROM SURFING
Article by Katharina Schoellhammer
Spiritual Life Lessons Learned from Surfing
Experiencing the ocean through surfing offers many beautiful lessons that can apply to life on land. Practitioners of yoga often say that time spent “on the mat” has measurable benefits off the mat, and it’s no different with surfing. You don’t have to surf or even like the ocean for these ideas to resonate, but this might be more fun to read if you do. Embrace an oceanic mindset and think in terms of metaphors — waves can be a metaphor for challenges and opportunities; conditions, a metaphor for the present moment, just as it is, like it or not. After about a decade surfing, here are some surf school lessons that help me in life “off the board”:
• Unfavorable conditions are temporary; beauty and splendor are permanent
• The universe supplies the conditions. Efforts to control conditions are futile, but preparation of the mind, body, and spirit to use the conditions is challenging, fun, and rewarding…it also sometimes means getting your ass totally and unexpectedly kicked, but it’ll usually be OK and teach you something
• Respect the power of nature and appreciate its beauty. Don’t take it for granted, and remember it is stronger than you are, but you can work with it to create a beautiful moment
• Big scary waves always pass — there is always a lull. It’s counterintuitive at first, but going deeper and paddling towards a scary wave to face it head-on means being able to go over the top before it crashes. This is way better than trying to avoid it by paddling away (every beginner’s instinct) or getting stuck in indecision and freezing. Trying to avoid what’s happening, freezing, and running away usually means that the wave will pound you hard on the back. Also, panicking never helps any situation and can lead to more danger. Do everything in your power to manage the urge to panic and handle the moment directly in front of you
• Boring, flat, and dull periods also always pass. Be grateful for the calm and enjoy the scenery
• Learn to ride the waves as they present themselves. Practice leads to using less effort for more effect
• Cultivate patience. Just wait. Impatience with myself or the conditions doesn’t change a damn thing and leads to grumpiness. That said, nobody’s perfect and we all have grumpy days, so be kind to yourself
• See beauty and potential fun in all conditions: rainy, sunny, foggy, bumpy, rainbows and dolphins, or smooth
• Nothing’s ever exactly the way we want it — someone else is often in the way, the conditions are not awesome, we fall just when we think we’ve got the hang of things…have fun anyway. And on that one magical day when things line up just right, enjoy it fully, but don’t expect it to stay that way, because then every other day will be a disappointment
• Many sharks are beautiful and docile. Most want nothing to do with you. Some are not, however, so don’t be ignorant either
• When the waves are just too big and too scary, it’s OK to stay home, curl up, tend to the body, tend to the spirit, and tend to other things entirely
• Being washed clean feels good and can shift stagnant, funky energy. Cold plunges are great for depression. Rivers, baths, and showers do this, too
• Putting yourself in a position to be challenged (in a manageable way) leads to growth, increased skill, and boosts confidence and self-esteem. Thinking you’re the shit without any effort, practice, or reason can occasionally result in a moment of glory, but also danger, drowning, or needing to be saved by someone else. Chiggity-check your ego
• Relaxing helps. Rigidity leads to instability. We get rigid to try to maintain control and balance, but it has the opposite effect. Go with the flow, dude
• I’ve never seen perfect, but practicing makes us better. Wanting to improve without putting in the time is generally unrealistic
• Your body is absolutely freakin’ AMAZING and amazing moments happen when you let your body be unselfconsciously joyous and expressive. Your body is often better at figuring out what to do than your mind. Listen
• Comparing yourself to others and thinking you’re not good enough, smooth enough, stylish enough, or whatever leads to deep emotional pain and giving up before you’ve even given yourself a chance. Conversely, an attitude of being better than everyone else is generally obnoxious. You might be great, but if you suck to be around, what’s the point? Work to be good with yourself as you are. Enjoy and be grateful for your skill. See your weakness or desire for better as your soul urging you to grow
• Most people out in the water just want to have a good time. See the best in them. Avoid the jerks. If you’re the jerk, try being genuinely kind and compassionate with yourself. See if it changes your experience and how you interact with others
• Being polite and having awareness of those around you is really really important, and we all make mistakes. Be gracious, say sorry, recognize what you’ve done wrong, and move on with a little more awareness to do better next time
Surfing aside, underneath these lessons is something subtle yet more important. We often think that learning has to be hard, boring, or arduous. The point here is that engaging in things that generate joy and spark our interest lead to profound shifts in perception, understanding, and self-knowledge, all while feeling fun and natural, rather than something we have to force ourselves to do. We can loosen our grip on the idea that life lessons come through pain and suffering, and embrace taking cues from what brings us joy. I bet that if you think about something you love doing, you will find that it teaches you many wonderful and valuable things. Our souls want to heal and grow, and they expand most in the context of love and joy.
