Photo courtesy Lizzy Churchill
Surfing is an amazing sport that not only does wonders for your body but it can also contribute to a happy mind. This adrenaline-fuelled sport puts smiles on people’s faces all over the world but can it boost your confidence out of the water?
It occurred to me the other day, that surfing has changed my life. This sport has opened my eyes to a whole new world of adventure and has pushed me to get out there and do more!
I have never naturally been a confident person and it’s always been something that has held me back and more often than not used to stop me in my tracks.
As I’ve got older I have realised that you’re not just born with confidence, you have to build your confidence and the only way to do it is to step out of your comfort zone; which for me came in the form of surfing.
Photo courtesy Dan Chapman
The more I surfed the more confident and sure of myself I felt, my desire to go on adventures grew stronger, I wanted to surf new waves and the biggest thing of all for me is how confident I felt in myself physically.
For a while asked myself “Am I the only surfer that feels surfing has boosted their confidence?”
This year whilst coaching a surf lesson my question was answered and it became clear to me that I wasn’t the only surfer that felt this way. The more I coach surfing the more I see first hand that surfing does change people and for the better. As you conquer the waves and your fears you allow yourself to grow as a person and begin to push yourself to new limits.
Teaching surfing is a big part of my life and allows me to work with people of all ages and backgrounds. More often than not people enter the water nervous, maybe even slightly afraid about the prospect of learning to surf but after that first wave those negative feelings disappear and new emotions washes over them. An inner confidence that they might not of even known was there appears and takes over.
Photo courtesy Dan Chapman
Maybe you’re reading this thinking nope that’s not me but what if it is and you just haven’t realised it yet?
It doesn’t have to be anything as big as going on a surf adventure around the world by yourself; it can be something as simple as joining a club that you always wanted to join and going to a session by yourself. It could be surfing with someone you don’t really know or even just feeling more body confident because surfing as made you feel stronger and healthier. The more you surf the more this confidence will grow and you’ll begin to feel like anything is possible. If you can drop in on that 4ft wave or make it all the way out the back what else can you do?
You can improve your confidence, use the Surf Girl Hand Book to help you improve your surfing technique and build your confidence:
// SHOP HERE for this inspiring book //
