Going into the archives with this newsletter article from Summer 2023…
Debating on resurrecting Surf Mom Strong… but for now I thought this was a wonderful article for the heat of summer, Enjoy!
As I embark on my new project, Surf Mom Strong, with the mission of supporting women through body, mind and soul practices so they can confidently navigate motherhood AND dive into the freedom that is a surf session, I have been doing a lot of reflection on my own lifelong relationship with the ocean, surfing and more recently being a mother who loves surfing.
Over the next several weeks I will be giving you a little inside look into my own journey!
My earliest memories of the ocean didn’t involve a surfboard but instead time spent in the water off the New Jersey shore in my dads arms. We would go out “deep”, which for all I know it may have been 4 feet, but it felt like we were WAAAY out there. My dad would hold me as we jumped over waves that were just outside the “impact zone”(where the waves break). This is where I learned my earliest lessons about waves and how they work. He would point out how to recognize the ones that were never gonna amount to anything, the ones that were bigger and going to break further out and the ones that would break right where you wanted them to. Back then I didn’t realize how this time with my dad talking about the ocean was, in reality, my first surfing lessons! Now I get choked up just thinking of these fond childhood memories.
My dad is the one who taught me how to watch the ocean with a surfers eye. Now, whenever I am talking to someone just embarking on their surfing journey and I see them exhausted with the frustration of the endless paddling, that is part of every surfer’s early journey, I will suggest they simply pause, sit and observe. I encourage them to watch the waves, watch where the other surfers sit and what waves they choose to paddle for. To begin surfing with more success, it helps to understand how the waves work. Observation and even better, guided observation, is one of the best ways to hone your surfer’s eye!
To draw a parallel to parenting because any surfing mom knows, we are infinitely guided by the lessons of the ocean… When frustration creeps up, have you ever noticed how everything seems to go more smoothly when we simply pause (stop doing), sit and observe our baby/child.
Whether you ever hop in for a surf or not… I hope you find yourself taking a moment to pause, sit and observe the next time exhaustion and/or overwhelm take hold of your day! Then you can thank mother earth when her powerful serenity washes over you!
Go get out there mama!
Xo, Hilary
