Surf, Zen and Life...

Today I watched a documentary on surfing. It was really neat and it taught me a lot about the culture behind surfers and beach bums. I’ve been surfing ever since I got to Australia, but I haven’t really understood why so many of these surfers I’ve met were so darn relaxed. So I rented this DVD so I could understand a little bit about why this was true.

The whole culture behind surfing is that of being in the moment. When you’re in the moment while surfing–that’s the only way you’re going to do well. If you’re in your head and thinking of other stuff to do you'll never be able to catch a great wave. It’s only when you’re one with the ocean and the water where you’ll finally be able to become a great surfer.

A lot of the surfers in the documentary look at this sport as a way to become connected with the whole, or whatever that means. Most of the guys in the documentary, and like I said all my surfer buddies, just seemed very centered, relaxed, and at ease. It it makes a lot of sense at least in my perspective because over the years when I have been surfing I’ve noticed that my stress level always goes down whenever I hit the water.

I used to do (and to some extent still) meditate. That’s another one of those great activities to really get your mind more calm and get all the clutter inside of your head out of their. Surfing is very similar to meditating. The whole practice is designed to get you in the moment and stop thinking so much.

I really do like to meditate too because I can do it whenever and wherever I want. When I lived back in North Carolina I used to meditate quite a bit more. I guess it’s because I didn’t have a beautiful Indian Ocean to look at each and every day like I do in Australia that I could surf in. I used to go to this little Zen dojo back in North Carolina where each week, I’d go there to meditate for two hours each time. I also got to meet some of the teachers there and they helped me get out a lot with some of the internal BS that I was telling myself at the time. The teachers help me stop listening to the “little me” and start being in the moment more.

However, I think that you don’t have to be in an ocean or in a Zen dojo to practice being in the moment. You could practice it wherever you are at any time of the day. You could be waiting on the bus stop and you could use that as an opportunity to train yourself to be in the moment. You could focus in on the sounds are coming from the birds, the footsteps on the ground as people walk by you, take note of all the different colors that surrounds you, the textures of the different metals and wall that are around you and do anything and everything you can to enjoy every last bit of the moment.

So that’s all for now, just wanted to get that little thought outside of my head for today. Take care! The