Just

Just
as I’m about to pack it in for the day, the rumbling of a
breaking wave from behind galvanises me swiftly back onto my
surfboard. “One last go” I mumble to myself, slapping at the water
as I paddle frantically to try to match the incoming wave’s speed.
The froth licks my toes and I wobble up onto the board, standing –
for three glorious seconds – before flopping back into the water,
to a chorus of cheers. “Go Grace!” whoop the rest of my group, an
assembly of personal cheerleaders that have now gathered along the
beach. Riding my first successful wave on day one of Resurface‘s surf therapy retreat
might have been a big personal win, but – as I wade into shore and
high-five my newfound friends – I realise it’s the shared
experience that gives me the biggest high.

To salty-haired, wave-riding obsessives, the benefits of surfing
have never been a secret. But beyond the exercise and sheer
adrenaline rush, a growing body of scientific research is now
proving the sport can positively impact our mental health, too –
from helping with anxiety and depression, to improving symptoms of
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Aside from the obvious mental health benefits that come from
physical exertion (reduced stress levels and better sleep quality,
to name a few), surfing also requires a singularity of focus that
can take our mind off everything else around us – forcing us to
connect to the present, as well as with nature. For those suffering
with poor mental health, learning a new skill within a group
setting can not only offer a confidence boost, but also a
much-needed lifeline of social connection.

For Josh Dickson, the founder of Resurface and an accredited Eye
Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) consultant,
surfing has not only played a pivotal role in his life on a mental
and physical level, but on a romantic one, too. Meeting his
now-wife Kristine Steffenak (a trained medic and certified yoga
teacher) on a surfing retreat, the two have since combined their
skill-sets to create a pioneering surf therapy programme that
incorporates surfing with psychological workshops and yoga.

I’ve joined their Trauma Resolution retreat, a week-long
programme set in the sun-bleached Moroccan surf town of Tamraght,
just half an hour north of the airport in Agadir. Our base for the
week is Riad Dar Haven, a sleepy nine-key boutique guesthouse,
where days are bookended by yoga on the rooftop with Kristine. Each
day offers a jam-packed schedule, but Josh is quick to point out
that everything is optional – “this isn’t rehab” – he reminds us on
our first morning, “go at your own pace.”

But, as a yogi myself, waking with sunrise yoga on the rooftop
sounds like too good an opportunity to pass up, and as I stretch my
way into the morning I feel glad to have skipped the lie-in. After
a simple continental breakfast, we gather in a quiet communal room
for our morning psycho-education workshop – “developmental trauma”
– being the focus of the day. For such a heavy topic, Josh makes
the material remarkably digestible – breaking the subject down into
a straightforward presentation with a candidness that captures the
full attention of the room.

At 10.30am we head to the beach and meet Youness – an endlessly
energetic surf instructor whose wellspring of enthusiasm gets even
the most nervous among us into the water. A few hours of hilarious
wipeouts later and any barriers between our group have been
dissolved, our collective spirit now bonded by the waves.

“How are you all feeling?” Josh asks as we sit back down in our
cushion-strewn classroom, ready for our next psychotherapeutic
workshop. “Exhausted!” we chime back in unison. “Perfect” Josh
responds, explaining how this “post-flow” state creates the ideal
launch-pad for therapeutic work. “That’s the reason we save the
real work until after you’ve been surfing. Being in a lucid
post-flow state encourages emotional openness, so you’re better
prepared for the deep work ahead.”

Sure enough, the ensuing “psychodrama” – a structured form of
therapy where one person’s personal issue is dramatized by the
group – is charged with emotion in a way I’d never expected.
Despite the different issues we’ve all come to resolve – some of us
battling with relationship breakdowns, others with grief and
addiction – there’s a shared ambition to move past the trauma, and
the emotional vulnerability in the room soon becomes
contagious.

After the therapy workshop we’re invited to meet Kristine on the
rooftop for a session of Yin yoga and NSDR (non-sleep deep rest).
Designed to induce a state of memory integration that usually takes
place as we sleep, NSDR is introduced at the end of the afternoon
to help consolidate the emotional work that’s just taken place.
After eight hours of intense physical and emotional workouts, a
soothing meditation guided by Kristine’s gentle voice feels like
the perfect way to round off the day.

The rest of the week follows a similar rhythm, with a mid-week
therapy break spent exploring Imsouane, a ramshackle fishing
village with a yawning, burnt-sienna beach (home to the longest
surf break in Africa). As the days unfold, any racing thoughts in
my mind begin to fade, washed away by the inevitable
perspective-shift that comes from spending time in the ocean.

On our last evening the sky is blushed by a beautiful
filament-orange sunset, and we decide to walk down to the beach for
one final swim. I might have only known my group for a week, but as
we wade into the water together I feel a strange, blood-level sense
of belonging. A week of surf therapy has equipped me not only with
toned arms and a renewed sense of emotional resilience, but a
handful of connections I feel confident will be kept for life.