3 Ways Surfing with Sisters of the Sea Changes Your Life!
Find Your Surf Community
in Jacksonville Beach, Florida
Florida sunrise surf ritual: wake up before everyone, tip-toe into the quiet kitchen to make tea and eat a quick breakfast, and slip out as darkness recedes. If I hit it right, I can make it to Mickler Beach right before sunrise. I know there will be other surfers there, too.
If you’re an early morning Florida surfer, you know that sulfur smell, moisture-heavy air, and fresh-new-day feeling when you load your board into the car while the neighborhood is still sleeping. Sunrise surfs are mysteriously soul-altering. Perhaps it is nature in its most raw form: undisturbed by the bustle of a crowded beach, construction, or technology demands.
Sitting on a surfboard, waiting for the sun to emerge over the North Florida horizon is pure magic. Birds dip down to touch the water and the occasional fish jumps nearby. You’re a part of it all.
Sure, surfing is fun and something you see kids doing on summer afternoons. But if you’ve been fully immersed into the surfing fold, you know it’s not simply a sport. It is a form of reconnection to the planet, yourself, and others. If you’re unsure if surfing is worth your time- or whether you should even begin as an adult- here’s 3 reasons surfing with Sisters of the Sea can change your life!
Surfing Reconnects Us to the Earth
No time in history have humans been so disconnected from the world around them. We have made and spend large portions of our waking hours in other realities that include avatars of our lives (social media). We watch other people do the things we wish we could do, but we can’t do them largely because we prefer spending our time virtually. We look at beautiful places on a screen instead of the places right outside our windows. On top of this, we spend large amounts of time indoors doing things we could do outdoors, but we don’t like to be uncomfortable- heat, bugs, sand, sharks…etc.
Living like this has disconnected us from the fact that we are nature. Humans work hard to eliminate inconveniences, labor, and boredom, yet we miss out on the world around us. There is no match for sitting on the backside of a set of waves, a wave breaking, the spray scattering prisms in the sun, and the force of the break blowing mist onto your face.
I’m convinced that part of a spiritual aspect of surfing means that when we surf somewhere, that place becomes a part of us more deeply than if we were merely sightseeing. Suddenly, we care about our trash on the beach– it’s a place that’s a part of us, not just a pretty view someone else can clean up. When we feel a sense of belonging, it creates a sense of responsibility.
It has been said that the earth doesn’t need us. It was doing just fine before we built that shopping center complex and it regenerates itself after natural disasters. We need the Earth. Being in the water on our surfboards reminds us how small we are, and yet, how much we are a part of nature and the responsibility we have in caring for what we use. That’s why Sisters of the Sea is committed to beach clean-up every first Sunday. This is our environment and community, one which we are a part of together!
Surfing Reconnects Us to Ourselves
The water has a way of bringing us back to ourselves. We easily become disconnected through stress, anxiety, depression, and trauma in modern life. But surfing is a sport of presence.
When we’re paddling into a wave, we must be 100% present. Surfing is part paddling, part popping up to ride a wave, but mostly, it’s about timing. If you’ve surfed for awhile, you can often tell when a wave will closeout (breaking at once instead of peeling), and you can tell if it’s going to dump straight on you (hello, nosedive) or if you’re in the sweet spot next to the peak to drop in. But you can’t do any of this if you’re focused on the past or the future in your daily life. Surfing places us fully in the present moment, which is key to re-intregation if we’re disconnected from ourselves. The beauty is that the longer we surf, the more our instincts take over. We become fully connected to our bodies in those moments.
On top of staying present, surfing translates into life in surprising ways. I was about three years into surfing when I realized that surfing, similar to golf, holds many metaphors for life. I was surfing over a reef about three feet below me, and I had an instructor trying to help me progress (and to stop panicking at how fast the wave was coming). He said one of the greatest pieces of life advice I’ve ever been given:
You don’t match the energy of the wave. You relax, let go, and let it take you. Then you can play upon the face of the wave.
Surfing is a series of letting go. It changes us. It’s humbling and exhilarating at the same time. And there’s no arrival point. There’s never a moment in surfing when we’ve made it. In fact, the longer we surf, the more we realize that leaving ourselves open to growth is where the real magic lies.
We are all on a journey to stay connected to ourselves. At Sisters of the Sea, it’s a journey we can understand as we experience it together. Whether we’re OGs or beginner surfers, we keep learning the same internal lessons again and again, reconnecting us to who we are and who we want to become.
Surfing Reconnects Us to Each Other
Historically, surfing was a community activity in Hawaii. Hawaiians used to surf straight, next to each other. The modern era has increased the competitive and solo side of surfing. While that has added an exciting dimension to the sport, sometimes we forget it is a sport that brings people together. Together is what we’re all about at Sisters of the Sea!
Our founders created Sisters of the Sea as a way to band together in the line-up for when we might feel intimidated, when we are just learning, or when we could use the encouragement of someone cheering for us when we ride a beautiful wave. We believe surfing is empowering, building confidence in the best place—community together. And if you get dropped in on by an agro, you have a group of women behind you.
Jacksonville Beach doesn’t need less women in the line-up- it needs more! Our Sisters of the Sea Surf Classic was created to champion all women and girls in their skills and show that there is room for all of us at the Jax Beach Pier. While our Surf Classic has come to a close, the spirit lives on in our monthly meet-ups, a place where you can shred or learn for the very first time. It’s our goal at Sisters to carry the aloha spirit of what surfing is truly about: being united with the world, ourselves, and each other.
We hope you’ll consider joining us! Maybe it’s time to dust off the board in the garage or borrow a friend’s and come out to our first Sunday meet-up. We’re waiting for you there!
Photos used by permission of Inna Bell