For you I give it all.

It's been a while...
I guess I just can't help myself.  
In between the living, the jobs, the puppy and the surf trips I've missed something. 
This blog was a massive part of my life, not because it gave me an identity, somewhere to implore the world or drift into retrospectives. 
This blog was somewhere to just be. 

I've missed this blog, I've missed the incentive it gave me to go out seeking. 
I miss the weekly records of my habits, the clipped cheerfulness, the examination of my mental bandwidth. 

Mostly I miss the opportunities to discuss surfing. 

For a while I had to store surfing in the back of a cupboard, stowing it away like a saved Easter Egg for moments when I want to indulge. It became a distraction, pouring myself into a wet-suit was my chrysalis, riding a wave I emerged. The trouble with this particular method of metamorphism is that it requires you to be by the coast. 
I am land locked. 

Who needs California tans when you can look this cold and ill?? 

So in the interlude I told myself I was a serious business woman building her 'yoga brand' and that grieving waves missed was a perfunctory way to spend my (very little) downtime. I got weary, watched the numbers in my bank account jump along the timeline always plummeting to that line below 0. I cried myself to sleep worrying about finances, about how I was going to fulfill my dream as well as pay the bills.  

Between the lack of resources, I fell more and more in love with Mr Sunshine, my man, my beau, my friend. We got a puppy too! After all those years of describing my 'perfect' dog in an instant Ozzie the french bulldog appeared, the antithesis of what I thought I wanted. As the saying goes I got the dog I needed not the dog I wanted! 

I became a self employed yoga teacher then realized I like stability, I like structure and a monthly pay check. So I restructured, I got a job working with SEN kids realized I love working in the care sector. Now I'm about to become a technical rehabilitation instructor (i.e. working with people with acquired injury to regain their independence- so using yoga in a medical context)! I decided my heart is in building relationships so now I run yoga & surf retreats part time. My very first abroad trip is in Norway in 3 weeks time! 

I'll finish this tangent with Dolly (Parton of course). 

"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain" 

We've been here before. The land locked surfer girl moaning about being land locked, except this time I see my frustrations as a necessary catalyst. I can see rainbows in the rain, staying here in the middle of England is not a failure, it does not diminish my capacity to surf, it just makes me appreciate my wave riding all the more when I'm there (and takes a little more effort). 

I'll keep you posted.

Mahalo love bugs x 

How to be a surf blogger.

First pose with a foamie making sure you gaze out at the sea channeling your inner Kelly Slater even though your giant foam board is the equivalent of children's swimming arm bands. Look pensive. 

Step two
When you progress start doing action shots where you provide evidence that you can walk AND carry your foamie. You look so cool. 

Later form a surf group then organize trips randomly without checking surf reports. Flat spells or giant surf are just opportunities for you beginners to enjoy the great outdoors. 

  

Step Three

Be a land locked surfer vastly reducing your ability to write about surfing and trips. This is fine, you can instead create irrelevant posts with 'arty' photos in black and white as a nod towards surf style. 

  

Step Four
Get into skateboarding at the grand old age of 24 as this is a good substitute for surf when you can't get out to the coast. Pose with skateboards and take action shots even though you skate like Bambi on ice. 

Step Five Last but not least remind everyone of how much you love the ocean by simply just standing by it.  

 

The moral of the story? Don't take yourself too seriously when it comes to surfing or blogging! As you can see in the two years I've been blogging I've had some rather funny attempts to be taken seriously as a 'surf blogger' but actually its been just a lot of fun and mishaps! I don't have a go pro or a fancy camera, I don't even have a phone that works properly but you can still write a blog and put a little window into your life.

Whether your a seasoned blogger or just starting out, write your truth and enjoy the process! 

Until next time 
Stay strong, Surf well
Love

The dry spell.

My aversion to the sea of late is largely due  to self preservation. Such is my love for surfing that constantly longing for it during an absence actually hurts. So like a facebook purge I began trying to delete it out of my life in the hope that making it disappear out of my sight, would somehow heal the constant impulse to jump in a car and get to the coast.

Except this doesnt work. 
Because I am the ocean and the ocean is me. 

 






















I can't neglect my blog or try to close my ears to murmurs of surf because I'm both a writer and a surfer. Trying to shut either of these two versions of myself out is like lopping off a finger or a toe - there is absolutely no good reason to do it. 

When I heard of friends going for surf sesh I had a curl of jealousy such is my obsession. It was starting to become quite an ugly mindset until I took a step back and examined my thoughts. 

I have been demotivated and largely apathetic to all things marine at the moment because I am tired, city dwelling and overworked. But after some reflection I've come to ascertain that this dry spell is actually quite necessary. I'm trying to construct things in my present tense to actually enable a life of surf, wildlife, travel and more time with my loved ones. In order to accomplish this I need to work hard now and make a few sacrifices today to reap the fruits of my labour later on.

The sea might seem a distant memory but there are plans in motion, there is Morocco and there is Costa Rica to look forward to. These will happen this year and I shall work my butt off now to truly understand and appreciate these experiences of warm water surfing later on. 

So to conclude this meandering ramble, if you are frustrated and forlorn don't luxuriate too much in these sensations, exhale and remember your in process. 

Until next time,
stay strong, surf well 
Love

 

!Vamos a la playa!

"Surfing is like having a cold bucket of water thrown over you-over and over again..." said one of my yoga students recently, who also happens to be another land locked surfer?! 

Finally after 4 MONTHS of drought I returned to my beloved Saltburn and surfed! I'm talking freezing winter North Sea conditions where neoprene isn't just a matter of convenience it is an absolute necessity. Oh glorious beloved Saltburn! 

On my first day in the water I surprised myself with how well I surfed, I don't mean to sound smug on the contrary I was fully expecting epic wipe outs due to being away for so long. Blessed with two foot glassy waves in lovely clean lines (i.e. play waves), I was able to rehearse the pop up over and over again and begin having a proper go at turning. 

The waves made it fun but the people made it awesome, our post surf down time was spent in a Saltburn surfer's beautiful wooded back garden having a BBQ and bonfires, which seems so novel in the middle of a British winter. 

























Other stuff that happened this week.....Yoga with unwashed hair, in your PJ's in between the furniture of your parents house! That's the great thing about Yoga it doesn't need to occur in exotic beach locations or be overly complex, just get on your mat and practice.  Word of warning ladies: dressing up in traditional Mexican clothes, drawing on a mustache and speaking Spanish at your boyfriend is not sexy or romantic as a theme for date night!!! 

And last of all my gorgeous little butter ball Bruh the bunny as ever my little source of happiness! 

Until next time 

Stay strong, surf well 

Love 

 

Surf Yogini

 My darlings, I haven't forgot you. 

I have embarked on the hardest journey of my life and for now this is absorbing most of my attention. I have managed to have a little surf session at the Scarborough surf festival (which was cancelled again because the waves were...well mush burgers). I'll post about that soon enough. 

For now I am a fully immersed yogi. Which basically means my only thoughts are yoga based and when I'm not practicing I'm writing about the philosophy. In a couple of weeks the blog is going to have a total revamp, a surf/yoga themed revamp. 

So for now I bid you a fond Namaste. 

Stay strong, surf well 
Love

 Do you ever feel like your body is just something you use to cart around your brain? Yeah me too...and I'm getting tired of feeling disconnected. I'll be honest with you, these last few days I've retreated from my blog because I've felt uninspired and have needed time to recuperate. I've spent a lot of time nestled in the arms of Mr Sunny or getting bunny cuddles from Bruh and have emerged from my hibernation determined that my mantra in life is not going to be 'I'm rushing.' 

I was starting to validate myself through external factors i.e. going to university, living by the ocean, instead of cultivating the internal landscape which is the true root to happiness. How can I call myself a surfer if I don't live by the sea? The eternal question of the land locked surfer has been causing me angst...but surely those of use constrained by urban dwelling, who chose to escape to the beach are perhaps, in some ways, even more dedicated to surfing because they discovered it in a context with multiple other distractions?? 

Yoga is something I always come back to, I'm toying with the idea of teaching it full time but don't want to make any rash decisions in the aftermath of the last few weeks. So I've decided to set myself the '40 day challenge.' I'm going to immerse myself in yoga sequence, six days a week to embark on a journey to hear myself again and truly unearth whether I am dedicated enough to inspire others through the postures. Here's my schedule:    

I'm going to retreat, rebuild and recreate and maybe at the end of this not only will I be reconnected to myself, yoga might unveil itself as being a possible new path in life...or at the very least gotten me in wave shape! 

If you decide to take part in the 40 day yoga challenge, leave a comment here and let me know of your progress. You can follow me on instagram @sophia_cant_surf for yoga related posts. You'll also probably see a lot of pictures of this fella...

Until next time, stay strong and surf well! 
Love

Greetings from the Sunshine Coast.

Much like the ocean is an ecosystem, blogging is a community of interconnecting relationships. The subject of surfing is both emotive and motivational spurring many conversations across the world. Imagine my joy when one grey afternoon I receive an email from Roy Byrne of the Analogue Project, requesting to submit photographs of surfer Tarnea O'Meara from the Sunshine Coast Australia onto RWHCS. 

This was the equivalent of having money raining down from the sky - gorgeous photographs and an up and coming surfer girl, err yes please! 

So without further ado I'd like to introduce you to The Analogue Project  and hope you lend your support to the lovely Miss O'Meara. 

WORDS AND IMAGES COURTESY OR ROY BYRNE 

www.theanalogueproject.com

Tarnea O’Meara

Age: 19

Home: Sunshine Coast

Sponsors: Rue Stiic, Changing Habits, 4D surfboards, stick it surf wax

Years Surfing: 4

Tarnea has been surfing since she was 16. Before then you would be lucky to see her on a board twice a year. Competitive surfing only started for her in 2011, which makes her a bit of a latecomer compared to other competitive surfers who have started at a much younger age. That doesn’t stop her from pursuing her goals as a professional surfer and being better than the boys in a male dominated sport.  While surfing has for a long time been seen as a care-free anything-goes lifestyle, with the level of professional surfing going to new heights its hard to ignore the need for training to be taken seriously. Not only for a competitive edge but to set the right example for the future surfing athletes.

“Recently I have noticed that the surfing world is becoming more influential than ever. You not only have to be a great surfer, but a positive role model, promote a healthier lifestyle and reach the younger generation of kids. I am chemical and drug free, I eat organic, clean foods, and spend my days working, cross training and surfing. Surfing and health have become my complete focus since 2010 and I believe in a healthier and more natural lifestyle is needed in the industry in order to reach the younger generation.” –Tarnea O’Meara

Following up a 2^nd place in an international event the Taiwan Open of Surfing 2013 she is currently competing for the first time on the 2014 WQS circuit. Her combination of skill, healthy lifestyle and personality make her a female surfer worth keeping a close eye on in the coming years.

Thank you Roy and Tarnea! 

Until next time, 

Stay strong and surf well 

Thoughts about skin.

*Disclaimer*

If you are sensitive to images of nudity (in an artistic context) then I would suggest skipping this post! 

In my head I think this is what I want to look like! 

Lets be honest tattoos are a little bit sexy aren't they? There's something about the permanency of ink and enduring the pain to acquire them which makes them intriguing. I've always been of the mindset that they are pieces of living artwork. Equally I believe they are like wearing your journal on your body, the choice in design and the time in your life when you get a tattoo is a very personal journey and one which I want to explore. 

Now anyone who knows me well is aware of my indecisiveness. I am flippant and a dreamer so combining this personality trait with a tattoo is a potential recipe for disaster. When I was 17 I went to live on a Croatian Island and worked for a vulture conservation charity. I got it into my head that I was going to have a vulture tattoo. Yep that sinister looking bird which eats dead things, that was going to be my choice. Now the reasoning behind this idea was using the vulture as a symbol for reincarnation, about understanding that we're all part of one big cycle and that our mortality is our greatest freedom (not so lame anymore is it)! 

Since graduating the only consistency in my life has been surfing. Regular readers will know the context of this and how integral it has been to getting me back on even ground. Surfing reconnects me with myself, it makes me appreciate I am a drop in the water but really part of something. It might come as no surprise then that my tattoo aspirations are for surf themed art. 

I've been surfing of a different sort lately and found these beautiful images. I think like any decision in life researching is a good way to find out what you want to do, which is exactly what I think is needed on deciding what tattoo I want. Recently a heavily tattooed friend thought my back would be a really great place to have a wave design. Funnily enough during a brief stint as a life model (during university) I was told by a prominent artist (that's another story for another day) that I had a very nice spine, so maybe my back is a good blank canvas to start on!! 

Tattoo Envy. 

I'm fairly certain most women will like this picture! 

This photo is stunning. 

   

...and I'm fairly certain most men will like this picture!

This design is breathtaking what a piece!

Now that is commitment!         

 

Stay Strong, Surf Well 

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