Mindfulness & Surfing
AndyM wrote:Bali_vibes thoroughly agree mate. Being out in the water is what it's all about, catching waves is the icing on the cake. Similar concept to lots of stuff e.g.. fishing - the beauty is just to be there.
Yeah don't forget to appreciate the basics. You've got to ask yourself why the materially rich countries like Oz have such high rates of depression and suicide.
Don't buy into the crap that's pedalled out there and don't overlook the beauty of the basics - the wind, the rain, the change of tides, the coming and going of the sand. Life and the world in all its beauty.
That's it ! That's why I'm back in the water even when it's flat. Where I am that's pretty much all the time these days. But ya gotta keep the connection no matter what.
AndyM wrote:Bali_vibes thoroughly agree mate. Being out in the water is what it's all about, catching waves is the icing on the cake. Similar concept to lots of stuff e.g.. fishing - the beauty is just to be there.
Yeah don't forget to appreciate the basics. You've got to ask yourself why the materially rich countries like Oz have such high rates of depression and suicide.
Don't buy into the crap that's pedalled out there and don't overlook the beauty of the basics - the wind, the rain, the change of tides, the coming and going of the sand. Life and the world in all its beauty.
That's it ! That's why I'm back in the water even when it's flat. Where I am that's pretty much all the time these days. But ya gotta keep the connection no matter what.
Now that is "Mindlessness" :-)
Davy, grab a mask and snorkel, adds yet another dimension and gives a great excuse for getting in the water when it's flat. Check out what you're surfing over and what's happening down there!
Thank you guys for understanding what I was getting at! And AndyM.....your bang on and the depression and suicide! The desert that I came from was Saudi Arabia. Over there girls have no hobbies because they are not ALLOWED to do anything. No sport, no driving and even if there was a beach, they are not allowed to surf, snorkel or any of the things we take for granted here. Imagine never having that connection that we have and crave?! Made me wanna rush to my local surf even more. I'm a lot more grateful now then I was 5 weeks ago. So why is depression and suicide so much higher in a country full of freedom?! We'll never really know.
Still doesn't change the essence of what we've been talking about.
Interesting read AndyM, thank you for posting. But your right, it doesn't change the essence of what we're talking about....if by that you mean mindfulness and doing what we love- surfing. Still stoked to be out there tomorrow!!! Yeeeewwwww!!!!
Wellymon- yes it is!! :)
I think people here (in Aus and some western cultures) can be a bit tough on others taking the piss or getting overly aggressive over petty things like a footy player taking eccies sort of thing. In my travels I've seen a lot of this compared to say Thailand or Indo where the majority of people want to please each other and spread good vibes. You don't know what struggles other people are going through IMO. Even taking the piss out of uplift a bit on here could have sent him over the edge if he was in a bad place. I dunno just a thought.
A lot of tourists I meet don't get Aussie humour or just flat out think some of us are unwelcoming arrogant assholes. Well if they've just been in Thailand there is a massive difference in attitude here by some. I love Australia I just think people could give each other a break sometimes.
PS I cringe at my other posts in this thread and probably will later about this one. :?
Are hippies necessarily Marxist?
Most self-proclaimed "hippies" I know are middle-class refugees who are all well and truly engaged in capitalism. After all, how else are you going to get the money to go to Bluesfest or to fly to that cool doof in Melbourne?
Never trust a self-proclaimed anything.
"I stink therefore I am" - Rene the Hippy Cunt.
"Consumers of the world unite. You have nothing to lose but your chain-stores" - Dalai Karl
"Never trust a self-proclaimed anything"
Exactly.
AndyM wrote:Are hippies necessarily Marxist?
Most self-proclaimed "hippies" I know are middle-class refugees who are all well and truly engaged in capitalism. After all, how else are you going to get the money to go to Bluesfest or to fly to that cool doof in Melbourne?
Hippies were born in the spirit of revolution of the late 1960s when politicians were lying to us about Vietnam, Watergate, the communist threat, the nuclear arms race, corruption (e.g. Qld & NSW), the Whitlam sacking and anything that threatened the status quo including how the earth was being fucked over. Western religions were also seen for what they were/are. While it was big it was more than music and clothes it was about thinking differently, about a better world.
I grew up heavily influenced by that period and learnt from personal experience not to trust police, politicians and authority in general. Its something that is strong in me today as it was back then and its cost me particularly in my career.
So are hippies maxist? well that's a tag, a label but for me most are as straight as us all but they just have a different way of thinking and they would most certainly question authority, as we all should ..... modern day examples would be the Iraq wars and how Howard etc lied to us all and Abbott, a very dangerous right wing zealot.
Dear me I've been so in the moment I missed all these snippets of internetia. I'll check in again soon in the moment that I check in.
Oh yes, the "Domino Effect" where once the South Vietnam goes Australia is next to fall to Communism (after the Canary Islands I suppose) but for some strange reason, nothing happened, North Viet never invaded Australia? "All the way with LBJ" Ummm nah. Don't have to be a "Hippie" to realise that was nonsense.
Sack Whitlam and his "wasteful" NEAT Scheme. All I know, redundancy from a Chemical Plant hosing down walls with Acetone or Methanol (we had splash glasses for safety though) to retraining allowance supplement and full time employment as a Engineer worked for me and many others but I guess that's not fair to the shareholders in Chemical Plants so off ya go ya leftie bastard.
Hippie was more a drop out/back to nature "Morning Of The Earth" thrust late sixtiesOz more than the "mindful" thinkers mis-labelled for seeing through the bullshit. Anyone that disagreed with hardline Right Wing politics was labelled Hippie ... or "Commie" ... Marxist even, but ... weren't.
To me mindfulness is being dumped by a 15ft wave and held under and you zone out and go with it. Other than that, just go surfing, the rest follows unless you drop in and mindfulness tends to go out the window.
floyd wrote:Hippies were born in the spirit of revolution of the late 1960s when politicians were lying to us about Vietnam, Watergate, the communist threat, the nuclear arms race, corruption (e.g. Qld & NSW), the Whitlam sacking and anything that threatened the status quo including how the earth was being fucked over. Western religions were also seen for what they were/are. While it was big it was more than music and clothes it was about thinking differently, about a better world.
I grew up heavily influenced by that period and learnt from personal experience not to trust police, politicians and authority in general. Its something that is strong in me today as it was back then and its cost me particularly in my career.
So are hippies maxist? well that's a tag, a label but for me most are as straight as us all but they just have a different way of thinking and they would most certainly question authority, as we all should ..... modern day examples would be the Iraq wars and how Howard etc lied to us all and Abbott, a very dangerous right wing zealot.
The hippy era was much better than current, woodstock, and all that..
Boards were pretty bad though by todays standards.
Boards were pretty bad though by todays standards.
And they'll say that again about today in 20 years.
every street headed to the beach had its own shaper and glasser and it was all about mindfulness. Heaps more serious waves,heaps better music scene and cooler people.
I've noticed that mood / head space seems to be a factor in whether or not you have a good surf - regardless of conditions, sometimes I get into a good rhythm & sometimes not. I have noticed over the last few years - especially after being exposed to the concept of mindfulness & applying this to surfing (when I remember to...) - I've improved my ability to get a good rhythm happening. A basic definition of mindfulness is something like 'remembering to bring your attention to present moment experience in a non-judgmental manner'. Angry surfers can definitely be in the moment but it is far from being non-judgmental. I've always thought that angry/aggressive surfers tend to express this in their surfing style & rhythm & this style doesn't appeal to me.
Whilst I live in hippie territory I remain fairly cynical & overly earnest hippies give me the shits. But Mindfulness-based stress reduction is now a fairly mainstream & well accepted psychological treatment modality. So there's something in it at least partially to do with regulating stress & also purposeful attention. I'm sure this kind of thing is done in pro surfing even if not called the same thing, but in my opinion it's highly applicable in everyday life for everyone. Any thoughts, comments or slander?