Mindfulness and Surfing  casts a fresh perspective on this popular sport, and explores how riding the waves can be the ultimate meditation. Through lunar cycles and river surfing to the Taoism of nature, this book reveals an acute awareness of what the oceans can tell us about our place in the natural world. 

Prelims  pp1–7

Introduction: TAKING OFF  pp8–17
Ocean healing
Surfing as meditation
The water curtain falls to a God’s applause

Chapter 1: OCEAN SWELL  pp18–33
Landscape of the senses
Threefold way
The BodyMind
Coping with panic
Ecological perception & the coastscape
Mindfulness exercise: Sea Air Sound Therapy

Chapter 2: DROPPING INTO THE WAVE  pp34–53
Breaking point
Caught between fish and bird
Music, improvisation and dance
Lunar cycles and tide lines
A geographical imagination
Mindfulness exercise: Celebrating the Salt Stain

Chapter 3: SURFING WITH THE ANCIENTS  pp54–75
Hawaii to California: a brief history of surfing
Walk, don’t shuffle: the art of longboarding
Cornwall: Land of the dead-who-feed-the-living
Riding with the seasons
Mindfulness exercise 3: Creating Rhythm from Chop

Chapter 4: LETTING FREEDOM RING  pp76–93
Beating hearts and drums: Surfing and slavery
West Africa: The animal pulse
Haitian vodou
The spirit of place
Mindfulness exercise: Visualising the Ride

Chapter 5: BECOMING CHILDREN OF THE TIDE  pp94–117
Surfing in China: Entering the waves
Taoism: Taught by nature
Confucianism: Surfing etiquette
Buddhism: the still point at the centre of movement
Mindfulness exercise: Waxing Up the Board

Chapter 6: SURFING THE NEW WAVE  pp118–139
Guardians of the ocean
The blue and green gyms
River surfing and wave gardens
Mindfulness exercise: Meditations for Saltwater Souls

Endmatter: Further reading, index & acknowledgements  pp140–144
 

Sam Bleakley is a writer, geographer, filmmaker, adventure activist, surf contest commentator, lecturer in sustainable tourism and former European longboard champion. Sam is a specialist on emerging surf cultures, with particular interest in a new wave of Asian surfers who advocate the ancient practices of mindfulness in Buddhism and Taoism.