Surf Therapy Facilitator Retreat: remembering the roots of surf therapy
As we launch our in person Surf Therapy Facilitator training retreats we could not think of any other way than to begin with the roots…the roots of surf therapy!
While current day Surf Therapy is a new and actively growing field, thanks to the work of all the orgs and researchers around the globe that are collectively investing in Surf Therapy development through the support of ISTO, surf therapy first existed and was practiced by our indigenous sisters and brothers centuries before “therapy” and “psychology” were even words. Communities came together at the sea to celebrate life, to honor death, and to heal. Across continents from Europe, to Africa, the Americas, and Asia, the act of going to the sea for respiratory, cardiovascular, dermatological and mental health healing has been practiced for centuries. And the art of surfing itself, dates back to the indigenous Moche peoples of Peru who in 500 AD where surfing caballitos de tortora into shore with their daily catch, indigenous women of Africa surfed as a form of courting, and the Hawaiian royalty surfed hand carved wooden boards connecting them to the gods. Today’s surf culture however, is one of sport, consuming waves, competition, and toxic materials…while our ancestors surfed boards made from the earth to connect to the gods and celebrate life. So as we set out to train people to become trauma informed Surf Therapy Facilitators, it is an impossible feet without first learning from and with our indigenous ancestors way of being with and of the sea.
To host our first In Person Surf Therapy Facilitator Retreat since 2018, it felt essential that we partner with and learn along side our indigenous water keepers at Native Like Water. Native Like Water has been doing the work to welcome indigenous youth back to their water ways for over 21 years. And on Nov 28th, the national holiday renamed “Thank-a-Native day” we arrived to the home of Native Like Water’s founder Marc Chavez nestled along the coastal indigenous lands of the Michoacan in Mexico who welcomed us with warm glassy waves, open arms, sage prayers, and abuela’s pazole recipe. Our Surf Therapy facilitator trainee cohort ranged in age from 21 to late 60s, coming from the Cherokee reservations in New Hampshire to Hawaii and Jamaica, they were licensed therapists to water people that surfed out of the womb. Quickly the cohort transformed from a group of individuals, each with their specific goals and expectations for what the training would equip them with to a family committed to the journey or learning, falling and growing together.
The daily trainings were co-facilitated by Groundswell’s founder, Natalie Small LMFT, Mo Mata AMFT, and International Surf Lifesaving Association’s captain Jonathan Robinson. The experiential training style gave the cohort lived experience with the Groundswell somatic, body based surf therapy curriculum and tools, along side surf safety training and practice. The goal; to equip each with the tools, practice, and support to provide a high level of psychological and physical safety while holding surf therapy programs for their communities and clients back at home. The learning was not contained only within the daily Surf Therapy training workshops but was woven through out the entire day from team building during dawn patrol subsquash surf sessions, remembering the importance of play as we exfoliated in the surf surge like seal pups and jumped off jungle waterfalls, dancing and shaking out our emotions to the rhythms of mariachi and reggae, to reclaiming food as medicine and life as ceremony. We explored our own water lineages and started tangibly weaving together our resources to be able to move forward in the journey of surf therapy together with a mindset and heart full of abundance and support. Every person brought valuable wisdom from their cultures, experiences, and educations to the table transforming the retreat from a traditional educational training into the experience of ceremony.
As the sun set on our last day together, we felt our feet on the warm sand, breathed in the thick salty air, and listened to the waves crashing on the sand bar. We wove a web of gratitude for each other and sat back, felt held, and experienced the joy of trust, knowing that as we venture out into the journey of developing and holding surf therapy spaces together we each have everything we need within us and around. One shared, “We are now friends! And friends don’t see each other as resources or tools but rather in deep service to one another” and another “I came to get a training and I am leaving with an experience”. Surf Therapy collaborations, partnerships, and sharing of resources filled the breakfast table as people prepared to depart, see you laters rather than goodbyes. And as the sage was passed one more time around the circle, prayers of gratitude for each other, community, and mother ocean filled the space. To support continued collaboration, mentorship, and resources, they will be the first welcomed into the 2023 Groundswell Surf Therapy Collective; Groundswell’s on-line community platform to create intentional in person community. The Collective provides monthly workshops lead by professionals in their field, clinical supervision, weekly somatic practices, marketing support, research engagement, and access to Groundswell’s copyrighted materials and resources to support those starting their own org to looking to implement surf therapy practices into their clinical practice. The goal is to set a high standard for what it means to be a trauma informed surf therapy practitioner and to elevate diversity of leadership and wisdom in the growth and development of Surf Therapy.
It was a true honor to be welcomed in and get to learn from the OG creators of surf therapy! Thank you Marc and the Native Like Water community for your work in preserving the wisdom of your indigenous roots and tribal nations so we can work together to create a bridge of understanding and acceptance of Surf Therapy in the academic field … welcoming our bodies, community, and nature back into the healing process.
images by Nathan Weyland