Mindfulness and Surfing

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.  

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