You’re on the beach buzzing to get in, excited to score the ride of your life. But as soon as you touch the water you mind starts racing about all the things that could happen. You’re a bad surfer, you can’t get your pop-up dialled, you’re scared to paddle out back, big waves and walls of white water make you freeze in fear, and lets not get started on the comparison with those around you!
We all experience these thoughts from time to time, even our coaches and professional surfers! But the key is having awareness and some tools up your sleeve to deal with the unhelpful thoughts when they creep in.
Throughout the Summer we’ve been working with Cornwall based Transpersonal Psychotherapist and Surf Coach Danni Unway to provide Surf Confidence workshops for women attending our White to Green Improver courses. These have provided a dedicated space for understanding and addressing some of the underlying barriers to progression that many of us face, rooted in our confidence in the ocean and in the surfing environment.
We’ve had some really great feedback from these sessions and also requests to make them available to those of you unable to join us in Cornwall. So with Danni we’re bringing back our online drop in sessions this winter to do just that!
So as the nights draw in and we’re not able to get in the water so much, make some space for yourself and your surfing progression and join us for an online Surf Confidence workshop with Danni. We will be exploring the mental aspects of surfing, sharing our experiences both positive and negative, identifying and addressing mental blocks, discussing ‘the fear’, imposter syndrome and comparison with others and getting to the nitty gritty and confusion of surf etiquette. You will leave the session with a more empowered understanding of your own surfing journey, practical tools to put into effect in your next session and our special surf confidence tracker to help you track your progress, boost your confidence, and achieve your surfing goals with greater ease and enjoyment.
UPCOMING DATES:
Tuesday 9th January 2024 – 6.30pm (GMT) (log in 6.15pm)
2 hour Workshop
LOCATION:
Zoom
INCLUDES:
2-2.5 hour online group workshop
Downloadable Surf Confidence Tracker
INVESTMENT:
£20
Meet Danni Unway
Danni is a qualified Transpersonal Psychotherapist, Yoga Teacher and Surf Coach living in Newquay. She first started surfing in her 30s, getting hooked during a holiday in Portugal. Pursuing her new found passion, she then spent time in Bali travelling, surfing and practicing yoga before returning to the UK.
Through working as a surf coach she found that what holds us back a lot in surfing is mental/emotional, which often doesn’t get addressed when we’re in the water. This compelled Danni to start Surf Confidence workshops, to help other people and to bring together her two passions – Surfing and Human Behaviour.
What can we expect in the Surf Confidence Workshop?
In the workshop I encourage open and vulnerable sharing within a group setting out of the water. This can include possible fears, struggles, mental barriers, but also celebrate the wins and help the group connect with their most positive moments, those that keep us coming back for more.
We cover topics like ‘the fear’, imposter syndrome, confusion about surf etiquette, the list goes on! The session also helps identify specific areas that might be holding each individual back and steps to work towards overcoming these.
How do you tailor the workshops to meet different needs?
All workshops that I have hosted so far have had some recurring themes, but no workshop has been the same and each group dynamic has been very different, this is what makes this work so special and fascinating.
In order to meet different needs, I draw upon my training, my experience participating in – and assisting a lot of group work, my own surfing journey and my intuition. When someone shares something that feels like it needs a little extra attention, I spend some time with them there, offering some tips or a gentle reframe on their way of thinking or / and involve other participants that particularly relate to what’s been shared.
I never really know what people are going to bring but that’s also the beauty of it. Meditating before each session helps me feel completely present, engaged and connected with the group. The sessions can also be tailored to other sports or topics.
As the focus is on the sharing and what each individual brings, it’s actually a wonderful way for any group to connect on a deeper level whilst discussing something they are passionate about.
What specific techniques or strategies do you use to help women overcome fear or anxiety related to surfing?
I think one of the most powerful and effective elements within these workshops is the vulnerable sharing itself. In this strange world we live in, we don’t often get chance to truly share, we talk a lot about what we are doing, what our plans our etc, but we don’t often share openly about how we are feeling.
These workshops give women the chance to be seen and heard in a safe space, they are given permission to take their masks off and be real about what’s going on for them in their surfing… and more often than not this is very similar to what’s happening in other areas of their lives as well.
I believe there is such power in giving those fears and struggles a voice. Being seen and heard in that place actually helps shift those feelings that might have been causing our mental barriers.
Also, a lot of the time we believe we are alone in our struggle but we’re really not, so being in a space with likeminded women who seem to be going through something similar is very comforting.
Other tools I use are
– Positive visualisations
– Gentle goal setting
– Identifying first steps to help overcome barriers
– I also encourage people to become more present when surfing.
This can involve checking in with ourselves, deepening that awareness of how we are feeling in the water, finding that sweet spot of discomfort, we don’t want to be pushing ourselves too far but also not too little!
How to Book your Spot
Click on the button below and pay via Paypal with a credit/debit card or Paypal account. Following payment your space is reserved and we will email you a full confirmation with all the information you need to prepare for the workshop and access the online space.
Any questions at all please do drop us a line here
