The Benefits of Surfing

For me the benefits of surfing go way beyond just having fun. The physical and mental aspects of surfing will benefit you in countless ways. First off I would like to say that surfing helped me quit smoking and drinking. I am a big advocate in replacing addictions with other addictions. Hey as long as we have that additive personalty type we may as well get addicted to something beneficial such as surfing.

Surfing really made me quit smoking because I was having shortness of breath when I was trying to catch waves. It burned when I took a deep breath. So it didn't take me long to realize that surfing didn't go along with smoking , so I quit. I couldn't smoke in the water and it was a great place to commune with nature and feed my addictive personality fresh air and sunshine. Also I found that drinking didn't go well with surfing, I was sluggish and lethargic when I would drink even beer the previous day. So I stopped drinking all together. It didn't make me feel that good anyway. So I replaced smoking and drinking with surfing. I became healthier and eventually happier. Probably because I was more active and I wasn't abusing my body as much.

So the first huge benefit was I became more aware of self. Yes I became more aware of how my body felt and why it felt a certain way. In the weeks to follow I became stronger and more confidant in my non-surfing life. I was able to think clearer from stopping smoking and drinking. The increased physical activity helped get all the crap out of my body. So I greatly benefited from just starting to surf. I started to pay more attention to what I was putting in my body. I wanted to put high performance food in my body now. Why would I want to eat food that tastes good but made me feel rotten? So surfing really improved my awareness of what my body wanted instead of what I wanted to feed it.

Because of the increased breathing , I really felt more alive my tissues were totally oxygenated. I started to consume more water which probably flushed all the beer and tobacco out of me. Surprisingly I felt better I was happier and I had a better disposition than ever before. I felt like a kid again. I seemed to have found new optimism in an impossible unforgiving world. So the gift of surfing was a life saver for me. Its great to be out in the ocean and enjoy nature.The physical ,mental and spiritual education I have been receiving from surfing far out weight any formal schooling I have had. Some days its all about looking a whale or a dolphin looking you directly in the eye, or being way to close to a shark.

But most days its all about, what do you want to get out of surfing? How will surfing enhance your life? Do you have the guts to honestly face your fears? Surfs up!