Valentine's Weekend Surfing - Proning Out

Aloha Tribe,

For Valentine's weekend, I went to Whidbey Island for 4 days of surfing. I had a truly beautiful time. The surf was between 18 and 22 foot, Churly Churly, often Closed Out, some beautiful Peelers,  rain, some sun, and lots of seafood soup.

The best way to ride most of the time was ahead of the whitewater, often simply in a Prone Out. But that got me to thinking. Proning Out is, more or less, for the most part, a lost art, it seems. So few do it, fewer still truly study it, and less, master it.

Yet, it is a truly beautiful art, filled with subtle details to be explored.  I'm finding all aspects of surfing moves and techniques truly fascinating, and each offers a depth that adds yet more flavor to our art.

It's the tiny distinctions between each type of move, the thing that makes it unique, yet, more so, gives it room for personal expression, that so captures my heart and soul and mind. For, as with each of us, it is all about the ride. That feeling of being one with the sea. Learning from her, embracing her, feeling her within you and around you, being truly one with the surf. That, to me, is what surfing is about. In part.

Of course, I'm drawn to the boards themselves, how they are shaped, each line, and, why. I am drawn to our fascinating history and culture, to our legends and giants in the field, to the person who's just having fun. The food fascinates me, as does simple things like waxing my board, for in that, I find a spiritual sense of peace and depth and beauty. I love riding around with my boards on my car, or, in it. The smell of my wetsuit, fresh from the sea's embrace. I truly love being part of the Tribe. A sister to all of you.

I'm stoked. I admit it. And, I can't get enough. I love our movies and our literature. Our paintings and our sculptures. And our music.

For surfing, to me, is a way of life. A truly beautiful way of life that permeates all of me, making me who I  am, and each of us, who we are.

I'm finding that exploring something seemingly simple, like, Proning Out, to have such a complexity to it that it seems endless in its offering and lessons. And that is but one move.

It's all about the feeling. The movement. Both within me and outside of me, that draws me so. And that's why I so love combining surfing with Chi Gung, because that art offers such a truly magical way to explore the depths of feelings and sensations even more than ever imagined, using concrete training exercises based on ephemeral experiences.

My NOHO Surf Trainer is giving me truly a wonderful way to explore deeper into the moves I find myself studying, for a ride on a wave is so short, yet, paradoxically, forever in feeling, and, that feeling can then be colored and flavored into new creations and experiences of sensual sensations.

It was, a great weekend. The surf was wild and rugged and raw, primal in its power and fury, and oh so very vigorous. I can still feel its flowing.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

NOHO Surf Trainer Training 2 - Duck Diving and Mavericks Paddling

Aloha Tribe,

So, as some of you may have read, I've been having a truly radical time working out with my NOHO Surf Trainer, and, yesterday's awesome workout for several hours got me thinking of tons of new training ideas.

First, and this one is not directly related to the NOHO Surf Trainer, but comes about because I wanted to include it with my NOHO Surf Trainer exercieses, is an exercise I thought of yesterday that I forgot to include. Namely, the Duck Dive.

After all, since I'm practicing Paddling Out with my NOHO Surf Trainer, it only makes sense that including Duck Diving as part of my training needs to be included.

My first thought, of course, was simply to pratice the actual and literal Duck Diving technique of pushing down with my hands on the rails, while keeping my knee and a foot in contact with the tail of the board. And, this of course, worked out perfectly on my NOHO Surf Trainer.

So, next, since I'm a longboard girl, I thought I'd better do it "right," the way you'd really do it with a longboard to get through a wave, so, I held onto the rails of my board and rolled over to about a 45 degree angle, like you'd do with a longboard, and held that position, while holding my breath to simulate being under water, then, I rolled back over. This too worked great the way I did it.

And now, for the part that doesn't really relate. I wanted to include some extra equipment, purely for training purposes, so, I utilized the addition of iron boots (those are those body builder kind of shoes that are sort of an iron sole which straps onto your foot), kettlebells for my hands, and, my 40 pound leather boxing  heavy bag. All of this was for me to further train myself for proper longboard Duck Diving against resistance.

So, at this point, I got off my NOHO Surf Trainer, and moved to a clear section of the floor, and attached the weights onto my feet and also held the kettlebells in my hands and, hugged the heavy bag, then, I simply rolled over to the proper Longboard Duck Dive 45 degree angle while holding my breath, of course, then, I rolled back. And, I simply did this again and again and again to build up strength, muscle memory, and, endurance. It is, I must say, a GREAT calorie burner and workout.

Well, with that idea, I wanted to make my Paddling Out more realistic too, so, I took some rubber stretchy yoga straps and fastened them to some weights in front of my longboard, then, I laid on my longboard, with my NOHO Surf Trainer attached of course, and, I held onto the straps which were attached beyond the nose of my longboard, and, I began paddling from a laying down position.

My first attempt was for a 100 yard Line Up, so I Paddled Out about 20 strokes, while holding onto the elastic straps, which would pull tight each time I drew my arms back while paddling, and, at that point, I got off my NOHO Surf Trainer, went into the other room, and did a longboard Duck Dive with my heavy bag and weights, then, I went right back to Paddling Out on my NOHO Surf Trainer. And I repeated that several times to simulate Paddling Out and Duck Diving under large waves.

At this point, I was having a great time and decided to just get a nice workout, so I continued holding onto the rubber straps while Paddling Out using the NOHO Surf Trainer, and my goal was to paddle for an hour. What I was trying to simulate is that I had read that at Mavericks, sometimes you have to Paddle Out for over an hour to get to the Line Up, if you are unlucky, so, I thought that would be great fun to train that way, just to see if I could paddle that long. To make the Paddle Out more challenging and more in line with what I can only assume Mavericks paddling could be like I used ALL of my rubber cores, to make the resistance the most I could for the Paddle Out.

My workout was brutal. And, I'll probably pay the price tomorrow as I get ready to go surfing over at Westport.  But, it was worth it and I LOVED it. The NOHO Surf Trainer is absolutely everything I could want in a surf trainer and with it, I'm sure I'll get into great surfing shape.

I can so hardly wait for my afternoon session with this incredible piece of training equipment. It'll be fun to see what other moves I can practice on my NOHO Surf Trainer. Ultimately, I'd bet that I could try them all!!!

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

NOHO Surf Trainer Review and Training :)

Aloha Tribe,

One of the presents that Santa brought me at Christmas was a NOHO Surf Trainer. It can be used for both Longboarding and Shortboarding as well as any other variation of surfboard. And, I must say, I absolutely love it!!! Basically, it's a set of half balls that strap to the bottom of your board, either a short board or a longboard,, and, it allows you to practice your surfing moves in the comfort of your own home or yard when you want to get in some serious drilling time, perhaps because the surf is too flat or too wild.

I have mine set up in my Surfing Room at the moment, primarily because it's about 28 degrees F outside. I know, I know, I should suck it up and either go outside in my string bikini and workout, ignoring the cold and thus simultaneously practicing cold training, or, put on my 4/3 wetsuit, booties, gloves, and hood, after all, I live in the Pacific NW where such attire is rather necessary, and workout in my surfing uniform. Perhaps, later. At the moment, I admit, having a nice warm fire in my Family  Room, with the heat flowing beautifully into my Surfing Room, I'm spoiled. Oh poo.

At any rate, getting back to my thoughts on this training device, as I said, I truly love it. The half balls, if you want to think of them that way, consist of two half balls connected together, sort of forming half of a 3-D figure 8, made of a nice rubber type material which does not ding, dent, nor hurt in any way, my longboard. The NOHO Surf Trainer is attached to my board by some really cool rubber clamps, that simply hook or slide onto the rails of my board. Since I have a longboard, and, I bought a NOHO Surf Trainer to fit a longboard, the set  comes with 4 of the figure 8 balance devices and 8 hooks. The way it clamps on is by an elastic cord that connects between the figure 8 device and the hooks on the rails of the board.

I took the NOHO Surf Trainer out of the box it came in and had it set up on my board within minutes, it's literally that easy. Now, here's a tip. Since I have hardwood floors, I simply placed several rubber yoga mats on the wood floor first, then, I put my board with the NOHO Surf Trainer attached to the bottom of the board, on the yoga mats, simply to prevent slipping, after all, it was my first time using this.

The rubber yoga mats work perfectly!!! And, if you have carpet, that would probably work great too I'd imagine. I also think the NOHO Surf Trainer will work great in my yard on the grass as well as in my sand Surfing Training Sand Pit in my yard.

Since I am relatively new to all of this, I decided that the first thing I'd do is Paddle Out. After all, that's what I'll be doing the next time I go to the beach, so, I might as well get some practice here.

So, I practiced two different types of paddling strokes. The first, was smooth rhythmic strokes, long and sure, as though I was making my way into the surf. Since I've figured that perhaps the average, if there can be such a thing, paddle, is perhaps 50 yards or so, I thought I'd do  50 yard paddling routines.

I paddled out, and, got in the Line-up. Now, the Line-Up is a bit tricky on the NOHO simply in that, since it sits your board about 6 inches or so above the ground, you really can't drop your legs straight down as if you were sitting for real in the surf, so, I simply held me legs slightly above the floor, which, by the way, is a great workout for the thighs and abs.

I didn't find the paddling hard, my balance on the NOHO Surf Trainer seemed pretty okay. Nor did I find it too difficult to move into a sitting position, though, I was a touch slightly wobbly. I'll have to drill more and more and more on that one.

If I had my NOHO Surf Trainer balanced on something like saw horses, then, I could literally sit on my board with my legs dangling down just like in the surf, of course, naturally, I wouldn't recommend you all try that. I simply will, because, well, I love practicing all phases of my surfing.

Next, I practicing moving from a sitting position to a laying position on the board and, I began my next phase of paddle training, Sprint Paddle Training. Now sure, just like with the Paddle Out paddle training, you have to be aware of the depth of your strokes, after all, you aren't really in the ocean, then again, with but a slight adjustment of paddling depth, I had no problem adjusting to this training.

I figured, for exercise and drill sake, that my Sprint Paddle would require three lighting fast strokes, so, that's what I did, then, I got to the really fun part, the Pop-Up.

Okay, this was a bit more challenging and I was a bit wobbly, but, with practicing even for just a few minutes, I already noticed dramatic improvement as I got used to how the board moved on top of the NOHO Surf Trainer.

This part, the Pop Up was really fun for me, so, I did it quite a few times. Perhaps, 20 minutes or so, working up a rather good sweat.  After all, the fire in the woodburning stove had heated my home up quite nicely.

After Popping Up, I stood, and, imagined gliding down the face of a beautiful wave, Angling my board to a perfect (after all, it was my wave in my imagination), right.

And now, for my Bottom Turn.

I tried. I failed. I Stalled. Silly Lily.

I was slightly too far back on my longboard and lifted the nose a bit too high for what I envisioned doing if this had been for real. So, since I failed, I simply dropped down into a sitting position, then lay on the board and, Paddled Out again, just like if it was the real thing.

Now that I had the basic feel for this truly awesome and incedible training device, I decided to do a bit of Cross Stepping, Hanging Five, Hanging Ten, Cheater Five, and Drop Knee Turns training. So, I ran through countless repetitions of each, just to get the feel for them, as well as carving my board left and right with toe and heel pressure, as well as with hip awareness, and also with simply upper body movement, just to get the feel of how each worked my body, as well as my board on the NOHO Surf Trainer in different ways.

This training device rocks!!!  You can walk to the front of your board, on a longboard of course, and do a Nose 360. Or, you can drop back to the tail and try a Tail 360, and, you know what, the tail or nose respectively will lift so beautifully off the floor (in my case, rubber yoga mats), and spin the board.

I had to write this review at that point, I was so stoked, but next, naturally, I want to try some Spinners, but of course. And then, a Spinner with a Nose 360 and, naturally, a Spinner with a Tail 360. After all, why not, and, that's what the NOHO Surf Trainer is all about and built for, for running drills again and again and again, as many times as you'd like.

Using this magical surfing exercise tool, I can, right in my living room, get an aerobic workout by simply doing drills over and over at a relatively steady and realistic pace, or, I can get an anaerobic workout by really pushing myself and doing, say, 100 Pop UPs in a row, as fast as I can, as though, they were done at the speed of sprinting, in order to develop  fast twitch muscle fibers in my body (sure, a bit more of a necessity for a shortboarder than a longboarder, but, why not, after all, it's the fast twitch muscles that make a girl lean and shredded. I figure, I'm my surfing is to look great because of my NOHO Surf Trainer, I might as well really push myself and get my body to look as great as my soon to be acquired surfing style.

After all, why not? The NOHO Surf Trainer does it all.

Get one. Use it. And, be creative. Truly push yourself and drill and I'll bet that in short time, you'll see your surfing improve, move by move by move.

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have got this for a present. Now it's your turn. Give yourself a treat, workout on this and get your body in shape, and, more so, get the surfing style you've always dreamed of.

Hmm, upon reading what I just wrote, I suppose it sort of sounds like a commercial or something, but you know what, all I can say is I'm really this way stoked about my NOHO Surf Trainer.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Surf Shaman: A Seemingly Mythical Being who might actually be a Feral Surfer

Aloha Tribe,

So, what is a Surf Shaman? What do they do? And, on a more fun note, how can one become one?

A Surf Shaman is, in part,  a Watergirl or Waterman. He or she embraces the seas and swells as  forms of personal healing, prophetic, and magical expression, as well as for artistic experiences for happiness and living-in-the-moment.

In a way, there really is nothing that a Surf Shaman can not do, at least in one way or another, and that's the truly exciting part of it. If you can imagine it, you can do it. All that needs to be done, in such a case, is to figure out how. And that precisely is what a Surf Shaman is gifted at doing.

To the Hawaiians, such a person was a Kahuna, a spiritual eldar and leader, gifted in the more esoteric arts of life. In our way of thinking about it today, such a person could be a truly gifted Professional Surfer, though, they may not actually think of themselves as such nor now it. Some might see them in the light of the Kahoona from Gidget, in a way, or, in the term we'd use today of the Surf Bum or as they say in Australia, the Feral  Surfer.

Such people spend so much time with the sea that they truly understand her ways. They can predict how to ride a given wave, where to ride it, and, when. They can, seemingly, call waves, at least, some seem to have this ability. And, they are completely in-tune with the weather as it relates to the seas, as well as all sea life and all sea physical geography of any given place.

A person like this needs a lifetime of studying the seas in all that she offers, as well as in riding waves, often, perhaps, upon a single semi-battered board which they truly know literally perfectly.

Explorations into a field such as this lead to thoughts of what comes first, the board, or the rider? Naturally, the answer is both. For as the rider develops in his or her surfing skill, they begin to truly and fully understand their surboard or boards.

So, what does such a person do? And, how do you find one, if, they even happen to literally exist? Well, in answer to the second question first, they could be anybody, anywhere, at any time, but, this is the thing, they'll most assuredly be the last person you'd expect of such a thing for the simply look like everybody else, yet, there is a difference. They will have a truly powerful charisma, noticeable in their eyes, as well as in how they move or even remain still. It's an energy, a huge abundance of chi, if you will, that emanates from the person and permeates all around them, both all living things as well as their environment.

Now then, what do they do? Well, that's a challenging question in that each is truly an individual, therefore, doing, that which, they do. I know, that's a stupid answer, but, well, it's the way of it. Here are some things that may be done. Though, many will seem impossible based on our current understanding of science, primarily, physics.

They  can call waves. That is to say, they can focus their minds and thus their energy upon the sea, and, in so doing, harmonize with the sea, leading to, the formation of waves. Now granted, one could look at such an expression from many angles. Perhaps, they literally call waves. Or, maybe the sense waves coming and thus simply end up at the right place at the right time, doing the right thing. Imagine such a person's benefit to things such as surfing tournaments. Some sponsor's eyes somewhere should sparkle at such a thought, even if it did seem impossible. The thing is, what if...

They can also work with the weather in all of its forms. Calling for rain or sunshine, wind or stillness.

People with these types of skills can sense the thoughts of animals, their specialty of course being, all sea creatures.  As such, they can seemingly know in a precognition sort of way, where fish may be or when they may school here or there.

Now naturally, such a person often terrifies those with limited frames of reference and experience, yet, that does not mean such a person does not exist, simply because you have never, to you knowledge, met such a person.

Throughout history there have been people gifted in seemingly impossible skills, yet, the tales always exist. And, even if one chooses to not believe in such seeming impossibilities, at the very least, such speculation makes for great fireside sessions of talking story on the beach. For we all lvoe stories, be they mysteries, adventure, romance, or even horror (namely, that which frightens our sense of well-being and familiarity).

So, now for the fun part, assuming that such a person does or can exist, how in the world does one go about training to become such a person? In a nutshell, in a single word, smile. For in a genuine and pure smile comes incredlbly powerful magic, and, it is the root of all such training, for, in order for it to be authentic and pure, it must be genuine, and, that is the core behind it all, genuineness of heart and soul. In a  way, you could even call it a sort of innocence, for such a person often seems rather happy-go-lucky, seemingly flying by the seat-of their surf shorts, with twinkling eyes, a soft heart, a quick hand to help, and an intuitive receptiveness to all life and all that exists, especially, all as it relates to the sea and surf.

Now of course, there's a bit more to it than smiling at all that life has to offer. That is, but, the starting point. Simply being purely and truly happy with what you have where you are, right this instant. In other words, simply being, a surfer. For we all have a bit of the Surf Shaman within our beating hearts.  We are the luckiest people on the planet for we truly know how to play, and, for some lucky few, live to play and, more so, play to live.

Okay, so, let's say such a tale for you was not merely talking story but instead, was lifted out of myth and legend and lore and you wanted to truly train yourself to gain such skills, as well as literally uncountable ones beyond. How would you go about doing this? Partially, on the frustrating side, it is something that is inside of some more than others, they, are the naturals. But all of us can develop our skills in one way or another, to one degree or another.

The  place to start such a journey is with sensory awareness. And, a place as good as any other to do this from, partially because the art is over 2000 years old, and partially because such training is specific, concrete, and, already established in set training programs, is, chi gung. Chi gung, if nothing else, teaches you how to develop all of your senses so that you can detect things that virtually nobody, anwhere, can also sense. You'll learn to hear, see, feel, smell, taste, and, even dance with the sixth sense beyond the realms of the seemingly impossible. All because, in a nutshell, you learn to truly pay attention to the moment.

In such an experience of depth of paying attention, it is as though life itself is happening in extremely slow motion, not at all unlike in the relatively recent movie Spiderman, where the main character at one point in the film, sees and experiences a fly's wings beating frame by frame, as though, watching such an experience on a dvd player with slow motion and stop motion frame freezing.  Such an awareness becomes, not the realm of mere extreme trauma, as is the case with many people, but instead, becomes the realm in which one lives constantly  or, at will. This, then, enables such a person with such skills to truly and fully embrace their senses and thus, to express themselves in seemingly magical ways.

Well, that's the first step. The bare beginnings of a tale, a story told by a campfire, late at night when the wind slowly sings offshore to the gentle lifting waves, talking story for those who know how to listen.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Advanced Surfboard Shape, Lines, and Riding Expression

Aloha Tribe,

I'm finding that I actually am utterly fascinated with the shapes and lines of surfboards as they relate to performance. Now, of course, all surfers want a board that rides great, but how many of us really ponder why our boards ride as they do?

The key, to such study, it seems to me, is not only experience, namely, shaping awareness as well as excellent surfing skills.  More so though, what is truly needed, is a very special kind of experience, one that is utterly unprecidentedly  unique. In other words, you need to train yourself to be sensitive enough the the minutest subtleties of each board overall (which of course can be achieved by riding all kinds of boards) as well as with each line of each board (which comes from shaping knowledge, experience, and study)  as it relates to waves during actual performance (this, naturally, is where surfing skill comes into play).

Thus, the greater the sensitivity that one can train in their body for observing incredibly tiny subtle differences in lines, the better for this type of study and exploration. This, of course, is where a field like chi gung comes in. You see, chi gung is all about developing and honing all of your senses to peak perfection, and in the process, to full attention to the tinest changes in each sensory experience.

Therefore, the perfect blending of this would be the harmonious partnership between a gifted,  imaginative, daring shaper and a highly skilled surfer chi gung master, both of whom, preferably, must be extremely articulate. Granted, the shaper could be the surfer and the chi gung master themselves all roled into one person, but, well, hmm, you see,  that sort of defeats the idea of collaboration and the excitement and fun that mutual intellectual sharing offers, making the sum, greater than the parts.

Now sure, once upon a time, back in 5th grade, I shaped my first surfboard. But, that was then and many waves have passed since those days. Now, the chi gung master part, that, I have down, after having spent an entire lifetime studying, practicing, and mastering such a discipline. So, that leaves the surfing and shaping part, of which the surfing part in particular, to me, is the exciting and fun part, because, that is the part I am working on  now.

Eventually, my surfing skills (one day) will match my chi gung skills and body awareness levels, as well as sensitivity skills, and, at that point, finding the perfect shaper to craft with  as a partner sounds so truly exciting. For when we meet and this happens, it will  surely lead to unprecidented cutting edge surfboard technology and art, which, will immediately lead into a new awareness of riding and what can truly be expressed as the artistic lines drawn on waves by a  great and seemingly magical  board. What fun times await!!! In fact, I am utterly stoked for the day when such a harmonious blending of creative talent between two gifted people can be realized.

In the meantime, I need to surf daily. A  lot.    :)

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

My Quiver in my Surfing Room

Aloha Tribe,

This photo is of my Surfing Room in my home. The blue and yellow longboard is my 9 foot Robert August nose rider What I Ride. The red and white striped longboard is my 9 foot Robert August Wingnut. And, the lime green board is my 7'3" Hawaiian Blades with an official Hawaiian State Seal and the coolest shark toothed sword painted on it.

Each board is so way awesome. I just feel so blessed and grateful to have each and every one of them.  I truly love them all.

Oh, and the large black bag behind the What I Ride is the bag that holds my Dolphin monofin for freediving. You can also see some of my library here, my Russian Chess set,  and a few odds and ends.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Using Chi Instead of Muscular Tension and Movement For Surfing

Aloha Tribe,

Well, some of you may have read about how I love to use chi in my surfing. So, I guess a few of you may be wondering what I mean by that, and, why do it, right?

You see, our bodies are filled with energy, it's sort of a bio-chemical, electro-magnetic kind of energy, in a sense, but it also blends with all of the fluids that we have in the body too such as blood and synovial fluid, and so on. What you can learn to do, is to move this energy, not just with your muscles, say, by moving your leg, nor, merely by tightening or contracting  the muscles of of you leg, but, you can also learn to do it by guiding this energy, the chi, with your thoughts.

The reason this is beneficial to surfing is that it enables you to remain balanced, from a pure physical sense, yet, at the same time, shift your internal body weight where ever you need it to go, and, the cool thing is, it can happen as quickly as you can think.

Let's say, for example, that you need your feet to be "sticky," so that they can adhere better to your board. In the movie I just talked about in my previous entry, Occymentary, one of the guys there talked about how Occy's feet seem glued to his board. And, that got me so excited and therefore, to thinking.

So, here's what I'm doing to make my feet stickier so that I'd stick  a little better to my board when I needed to.

Basically, what I am doing is focusing with great attention to detail on absorbing chi through my board, from the water, and, circulating it within my feet. This creates a sort of sticky kind of sensation.

Sure, it means multi-tasking, after all, there's like what, a zillion things to think about while surfing, but it's a way to do this physically.

At a entry  kind of level, which, actually would be a majorly advanced sort of level, one would shift their feet around, literally, by lifting them here or pressing them there. Beyond that, one would do the same thing, only, using muscular tension in the feet instead of literally moving them. I remember in Laird Hamilton's incredibly inspirational and cool exercise book Force of Nature, he talks about how he developed certain muscles in his feet by surfing barefoot and walking barefoot all the time. That's sort of what I mean. By really focusing on foot development, sort of like bodybuilding for your feet, in a sense, you'd create the flexibility, speed, strength, and coordination of your foot muscles that would be light years beyond what most people do with their feet, namely, wanding through life, unaware of their feet, while, wearing shoes and socks everywhere.  That being said, of course there's a place for fishnet stockings and heels in a girl's life, but, on the surfboard is not the place.

After spending whatever time it takes you to develop and hone your foot muscles to perfection, think of doing things like dealing playing cards with your toes, as an example of this, your feet will be ready to move as you need them to.  The reason this is important is that in order for the chi to flow, anywhere, it needs the muscles to be flexible, but also, you need to be truly aware of the tiniest of muscle movements. It's all in the details, and as such, how aware you are, using all of your senses, to, your full body.

Once you have complete awareness of any or all muscles, as well as organs in your body, which, takes time, granted, you'll have an idea of what kind of focus this requires.  Naturally, there are shortcuts. And that's where a good teacher can help for she can move your chi or energy for you, and flow it here or there, so you can feel it, as well as supply you with more than you'd naturally have, so that you can experience whatever given exercise you are trying to do. This, of course, can save a student tons of training, yet, to truly master it, as with all things, one has to be in the trenches willing to do the work, so to speak.

To me, using chi is a truly beautiful and spiritual way to experience riding a wave, for it enables you to feel and sense the wave beyond anything you'd normally ever experience, offering you lessons beyond what you ever dreamed possible even existed.

As such, using something like chi to infuse your muscular tension and body movements, you can truly become part of the wave, one with her, feeling the energy of the sea not merely beneath you as you surf upon her but more so, within you, making you one.  This, of course, is the point where it starts to get fun, because at this point, you can start to sense what will happen with a wave or on your ride before it happens.

Well, I guess that's enough for this ride.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Turning With My Hips Led To Lifting My Feet

Aloha Tribe,

So, in yesterday's session, I was really focusing on using my hips. Up until now, I more or less would weight my  board with my toes or heels, in a general sort of way. But yesterday, after watching a truly wildly fun movie about Occy called Occymentary, I watched him move in slow motion and also frame by frame, studying his feet and how  light he was on them, and also, his hips.

Naturally, that gave me all kinds of fun training ideas to try. So, I spent my outing yesterday for several hours working on being light on my feet and also moving my hips before my shoulders when I turned. Watching the dvd in stop motion, I noticed how Occy would use just the ball of his foot or just the heel of his foot as he'd turn, so that is what I was trying to do. It was truly fun to try to be so light-footed.

And, oh my gosh!!! Like, totally major the difference :)

I was stunned. And, it felt good to move like that too.

I know that in boxing, to punch with knockout power, you start at your feet, move up your legs, bring your hips into it, then your body, then your shoulder, and finally, your arm. So, that's kind of what I was focusing on. Fully body movement with an awareness of each part moving. It totally blew my mind, it was great.

I know the idea here is something  that all of you know and all of you do, and so it's not anything new, but, it was to me. You know, that's the great thing about being at the bottom, everything is so new and exciting and fun. And, the simplest things or ideas, like, be light on your feet or move your hips, just can so way change the whole way something is looked at. Now, of course, the next step is to "not" move the feet or hips like that but to do it with chi, and thus, to simply weight the body with the body's own energy. This is where it really starts to get fun for me. You see, once you experience something, say, physically, then, you can replicate that feeling. At first, of course, one simply repeats the movements themselves. But, beyond that, one can learn to simply tighten the muscles involved in the movement, but, without the actual movement taking place. And, the next step is the one I just mentioned, where you send chi or energy (blood, body fluids, oxygen, and so on) into the area without the muscle tensions nor literal physcial movements.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Surfing This Coming Weekend

Aloha Tribe,

I'm hoping to go surfing this weekend. Yesterday, I ended up in the hospital. Totally frustrating. So, I wasn't able to surf or go swimming yesterday or today. I probably should lay low tomorrow and Friday too, but being out of the water is just killing me, you know. By Saturday, I've just got to go surfing again.

My plan, now that I know I can fit both of my 9 foot longboards inside my Subaru Outback is to go with someone and bring two longboards, one for each of us. It'll be an awesome trip, with, hopefully, about nice 4 footers or so.

I think I'll simply eat a bit of fruit between now and Saturday, just to get over what's going on health-wise, that, and doing lots of chi gung, of course. I should be in pretty good shape by Saturday, and, if so, not only do I want to surf as much as possible, but I also want to swim as much as possible, ideally if the seas or larger, maybe 6 foot or more. That would be a nice relaxed way to break back into it after a hospital visit and a few days of down time (I so way hate not exercising daily).

I have my surfboards hung in my library and I just love the smell of the surf wax on my three boards (two longboards and a thruster and soon, a new elephant gun). I find the smell very meditative, especially as it blends with my neoprene wetsuits, also in my library.

Life is awesome. How can it not be for a surfer!!! Sure, there may be a wrinkle now and again, like I've had lately, but the thing is, the surf is always coming, and that, makes me smile and my eyes to twinkle with excitement.

Love to all,

Bodaciously  Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

9 Foot Longboard Fits Inside 1998 Subaru Outback Sport

Aloha Tribe,

Great news, I've found another car that a 9 foot longboard fits inside of. Yep, my second car is a beautiful fire engine red 1998 Subaru Outback Sport and it will easily hold both of my 9 foot longboards and my 7 foot thruster, or a few bodyboards, my backpack, ukulele, and assorted travel gear, including several Baja California maps, a Baja California travel book, as well as a map or two from Seattle to Mexico.

So, this gives me yet another car that my longboards will fit inside. Of course, my Outback also has a great roof rack on it and that holds my two longboards great too. I simply duck taped some pipe insulation (acquired at Home Depot - 1 inch inner hole size, maybe 2 or 3 inches around, I'd imagine) around the roof rack supports, put my boards in travel bags, and strap them to the roof of the car if or when that is how I want to carry them. It's awesome to have options.

Now with this car, here's what I did. I moved the passenger seat as far forward as it would go toward the dashboard, then, I tilted the seat back as far back as it would go. Then, I took off the head rest from the seat simply by pushing the button and pulling it out. Next, I folded down the passenger side rear seat by tilting it forward toward the front of the car. At this point, I was able to slip my 9 foot longboard in the back hatch, through the trunk, over both tilted seats, and onto the front dashboard, with a few inches to spar both front and back, giving me plenty of room to pad the nose  of the board and the tail of the board with either towels or pipe insulation.

This arrangement gives me room for a passenger behind me (yeah, a surfing buddy), and their 9 foot longboard and my 9 foot longboard on the passenger side of the car, with all of our gear both under the surfboards in empty spaces, as well as in the trunk area behind the person sitting behind me (the driver).

Sure, we can't sit "together," and it's more of a front seat rear seat seating kind of thing, but that's cool, at least we both fit with our surfing gear.


Roadtrip!!!

Hmm, you know, a Fish Taco Surfing Roadtrip, from Seattle to Baja Mexico sounds just about right. And, with my Outback, I could do it. :)

I wonder how I'd make the Outback a Baja Outback, that is to say, lets see, I'd need, larger wheels, sand tires, an outside mounted gas tank (like you'd have on a Jeep Wrangler), an outside mounted oar (if you have to ask, perhaps you shouldn't make this trip) and a front mounted winch. Any other ideas out there? Oh, a Spanish Dictionary, but of course. And lots of water. What a fun plan.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

9 Foot Longboard fits inside 2002 VW Bug

Aloha Tribe,

So, awesomely fun news for those of you wondering if a longboard can fit in various cars, I just found out today that there's at least one car a 9 foot longboard will fit inside of. My bright orange 2002 VW Bug.

Yep, you read that right,  my beautiful 9 foot red and white striped Robert August Wingnut longboard fits inside of my bright orange VW bug. How way cool is that!!!

ROADTRIP!!!

Okay, is this an Endless Summer moment or what :)

And, there's plenty of room for my tent, my ukulele, and a green canvas Rambler backpack from Duluth Pack. In fact, I can even get my bodyboard in there too. There's enough room for two 9 foot longboards easily with several inches both front and rear to spar, as well as my 7 foot Hawaiian Blades thruster. Only one person can fit with the longboards though, since my bug has a bench back seat instead of the bucket seats like the new 2010/2011 convertible bugs.

Of course, I can put my board on top of the bug too, I have a soft rack, but, it's kind of cool that it fits inside, it keeps it safer if I have to stop somewhere for food, gas, or to check out the local swell.

I'm so excited, I'm literally twirling in happiness. I tend to do that, twirl, that is, now if I could just figure out how to do a Spinner on my board, I'd be set. Of course, then I'd want to learn to do a Nose 360 and of course, a Tail 360. All in good time I guess.  I'm a dreamer, I admit it. I like to think that's a good thing. You know, come to think of it, I think all surfers are probably dreamers. And, that's probably what makes us all love life so much.

I'm so happy, I just had to share with all of you in the Tribe, just in case any of you are wondering about getting a new car.

So, now I'll have a way go on surfing adventures anywhere with my longboard safe and sound inside my car. I can just slip all my surfing adventure travel gear  into my car and go. How cool is that!!! I feel like, with this new discovery that everything fits inside my bug, that I'm truly starting to fully live the surfing girl lifestyle. You know. And, for those times when  I want to travel with someone else in my car, I can always simply strap several boards to my soft rack on top of my bug. Then again, if I am traveling alone, gathering a group of surfers in all kinds of different vehicles for a Baja California caravan sounds kind of fun. Who's up for it? There's some nice 4 to 7 footers down there today with 10 to 15 footers for tomorrow from what I understand. At the very least, it's a fun dream. At least I have a totally cute way to go now, if I wanted to.

Aloha,

Bodaciously Stoked,



Lily of the Valley

Wave Thickness

Hello Tribe,

I've been thinking about wave thickness all morning. And, how it relates to surfing and reflects surfing and more so, what we can do with it.

Thick waves, naturally, have more power. Way more power. And as such, what can we learn from that? For one thing, it allows us to feel easier. It, penetrates us more, thus, the feeling is more inside of us than on a thinner, weaker wave.

Yet, paradoxically, does that make thick waves better? Of course not. Merely, different. More so, from the perspective of wave sensation, the smaller, thinner waves actually allow us greater exploration into our own inner world of surf sensations. In fact, the more subtle the experience, the stronger one grows in their ability to truly feel a wave.

How can this be? Well, it all comes down to sensory awareness. It's in a sense, the yin and yang of wave sensations. Thin waves, yin, allow us to be more receptive. They require greater mastery to truly embrace all that they have to offer. Thick waves, on the other hand, hit us all at once with their power, thus, they are easy to feel. Now granted, for most of us, such overwhelming displays of power stoke us instantly, for we become inundated by the shear magnitude of the thick waves energy as it explodes into us and through us. Giving us, instantaneously, an overwhelming sensation of pure power. Yet, the more we experience it, the more we need next time to have the same level of experience, thus, we always seek bigger and thicker waves to merely equal the experience we've had before.

From this perspective, the more we ride a given break, the more we get to intimately know that break, feeling it within ourselves, thus, able to sense smaller and smaller details each ride. This creates the feeling that the break becomes "easier," to ride with experience, and, in a sense, using broad strokes, this is correct. Yet, and here is where art comes into the picture, from the perspective of truly embracing the depths of familiar waves, a truly magical thing happens, we realize, over time, that our experiences are endless, each ride offering us greater depth with which to dance.

Yet, few of us go there, I'd imagine. For most of us, we simply get on the wave and ride. And, there's nothing wrong with that. It does, after all, create a joyful exhuberance, which is really what stoke is all about.

But, oh my, there is so much more out there. For all of us. Whether one is a mere Kahuna Tuna like me or a true master with a lifetime of experience.

Surfing teaches us something. Something truly beautiful. It teaches us, about ourselves. And we find, in our sessions, who we are. Allowing us to live, as our ancestors did once upon a time, truly in the moment. It is to that, which I think surfing calls to all of us on a primal level. Sort of a genetic memory, in a sense. As such, surfing allows us to live, to truly live in a way that most people are unaware of. We live, in a state of being awake. Awake to sensations. And the joy that such physical sensations can bring us.

Now, I'll be first in line to say thick waves rock. I freely admit the pure unadulterated power is, penetrating. And, for a receptive girl, wow, such power is truly sensational. Yet, the point of this piece here is to say that we all can find just as much sensation in the tiniest and thinnest of waves, if we but know how. And as such, the surf, no matter the day, no matter the place, can fill us with pure ecstasy.

To the thick waves out there, I salute you. And I smile with an inner knowing of the sensations the create, at least for me. And, for the thin waves, you too draw me with your magic. For you offer the lightest of pleasureable touches, caressing me as I surf upon you, with you, as you.

It does make me wonder though, where is the thickest wave? And, what must it feel like? I'll bet its enough to make a girl scream.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Bouldering for Surfing

Aloha Tribe,

There's a famous boulderer who truly inspires my surfing. He's a guy who led the field in bouldering when it was more or less in its infancy. When he was starting out, in his teens, he'd often carry just the minium of primitive equipment,  a simple pair of red canvas basketball shoes, a 50 foot section of manilla rope, and perhaps an ice axe and for the days rations, maybe just a single sandwich. I loved the sandwich idea, even his meals were simple.

I read that this adventurous soul would  simply coil his rope, tie on his tennis shoes, leaving his home in the middle of the night, hitchhiking to  the wilds. Simple times, those. Like surfing was in the 60's, before competitions, surfing pros, and sponsors. Like surfing is today, for some.

I see a return to those times, in the new pioneers of both sports. Both, bouldering and surfing, are about the experience. The moment. The, feeling. And that is the path that we all, in one way or another yearn for, if only in our subconscious for some of us.

Surfing is different than bouldering in that we belong to the Tribe. That universal group of souls yearning for the wisdom of the sea. And often, as such, we surf with others. In established breaks. Where we know everyone. Our joy, often is equally for our fellow surfers, as for ourselves.

Yet, with movies like Endless Summer, a huge part of our culture was born, that being, the nomadic surfer of the wilds. Not unlike the pioneer boulderer, actually.

In the one case, an adventurer and a coiled rope, perhaps with just simple canvas basketball shoes for equipment instead of all the fancy modern sticky shoes and carabiners and such. And, on the other hand, a seeker of the sea, of the ride, with a single longboard strapped perhaps to  an orange  vw bug, touring the wilds, searching for the lone ride on the perfect wave.

For some of us, we always are part of the group. We're always in the lineup, a familiar face to all, Yet, others walk a different path. Perhaps because of pesonality. Perhaps environment. Take, where I live, for example. The wilds of Washington. You go to the beach here and your as likely to find beasts of the wilds as opposed to fellow surfers.

It creates, for some, a lonely style of surfing. Yet, to others, they see adventure in it. For the joy when one is by themselves is simply about the feeling itself. There is, after all, nobody to see, nobody to talk to,  nobody to share with.

Yet, paradoxically, it leads to interesting encounters at times. In a bar, grabbing a hot steamy bowl of clam chowder after a day of seemingly near arctic surfing of 46 degree water, you recognize a fellow surfer by their body, their eyes, their spirit. Their, stoke. And you'll glance over at them, and they at you, and you slightly smile, getting pehaps a return smile in kind. You both know, in the single moment, you see it, the lone surfer, in, each other. Alone, yet, shared experience. And with a knowing smile on your lips, you return  your soft gaze to your bowl of seafood, stirring the steamy mixture for tales of wisdom from the sea.

Bodaciosly Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

River Surfing

Aloha Tribe,

The last few days, I've been training in the river near my home. The water is snow fed, and as such, is about 36 degrees F. It's been a touch on the cool side with my 4/3 wetsuit, but you know, the coolness has felt really nice. 

What I've been focusing on mainly is my paddling. I'm really finding paddling fun, it's so in-the-moment. Today was interesting. There I was, paddling away, when something ran into me. First thought, of course, is shark, which, immediately made me giggle out loud since I was in a fresh water river. How silly can a girl be, goodness!!! Of course, I knew instantly it was a salmon. how big, I don't really know, but good enough size to have a pretty sturdy and startling hit when it collided with me.

It was a lot of fun to experiment with different paddling strokes and fighting the strong,  flood stage river made paddling a true challenge to simply stay in place. I just love workouts like that.

Last weekend I went to Westport to do some surfing and I  had a beautiful time. The waves were perhaps double overhead or so. It was a solid offshore breeze, helping some of them lift and peel beautifully. Just seeing them made my heart race. In fact, reflecting on the rides of some of my friends still makes me smile. I so love watching others catch awesome rides. To me, that's what surfing is all about, sharing the feeling of joy with all around you, not merely for your own rides, but more so, for theirs too. There was one guy out there, my gosh, a god. He had it so wired, he was just utterly on fire in a calm, peaceful, perfect, relaxed sort of paradoxical way. Nobody the whole weekend could touch this guy had he been around earlier. He came out when everybody had left, as darkness began settling. His surfing was so beautiful. It sends shivers through me just thinking about it.

I'll work the river a bit this week, trying for at least two sessions a day, preferably three if I can. My inspiration will be that lone surfing god.

Along the training note, I've been swimming a lot with fins lately to build my legs and buns. Now that's something that really kicks a girl's ass. I truly love rough ocean swimming with fins, I find it challenging and exciting and a great way to build power for surfing.  Interestingly enough, the stronger one becomes, the more one can relax. A funny paradox, perhaps, but that's at least how I see it.

I hope to hit the river again this afternoon once I finish the dishes. It'll be dark soon but I should have a good hour to hour and a half if I'm lucky.

This coming weekend I'll be heading to Whidbey Island. I have some interesting soft balance training I want to try on my board. It'll be a great weekend and I can so hardly wait to go.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Unusual Big Wave Training: Indo Board and Pick Axe

Aloha Tribe,

So, today, I practiced a rather unusual Big Wave Training method. At least, I'd imagine it to be rather unusual, if not, perhaps, the first time even.

I got out my Indo Board and set it up out by the trampoline where I had a large truck tire hanging on a manilla rope, tied to a log beam. Then, I stood on the Indo Board and swung a heavy pick axe at the tire. For, about an hour.

It was a truly intense workout. And from it, I gained a sense of balance in power and, power in balance.

Each swing of the pick axe naturally spun my body,  which, with the rebound from the swinging tire. the motion was rather unpredictable to a certain degree based on how perfectly the blow landed. This let me have the experience of balancing while feeling some unexpected force upon my body.

I truly loved this training session today. And, for sure I'll way do it again as part of my regular training. I'll add to it, perhaps this afternoon, another hour of pick axe training, this time, on my slackline, which is actually a 2 inch diameter manilla climbing rope. Swinging the pick axe on that will be even more challenging than on the Indo Board.

It's fun to practice balance in unusual settings. It helps me to train for the unexpected. Which, in Big Wave riding, could happen at any instant.

Another form of balance training I want to try this afternoon is to swing from a second manilla rope hung vertically  from the loft beam, then, let go of it and land balanced on my  horizontal slackline. This training should help me to get used to being very very light on my board and to recover balance extremely quickly.  It will truly offer precisioned focus in balance, timing, and accuracy of foot, arm, and body placement.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Kauai Fish Tacos - Yummy beyond all reason!!!

Aloha Tribe,

So, as you all know, I utterly love fish tacos. That and fruit is about all I eat. In fact, just sitting here thinking about them makes me smile. And, with that smile comes memories of two of my favorite fish taco restaurants, both of which are on Kauai.

On the North side is Tropical Taco. And, on the South, the Shrimp Station. Both, are pure magic.

What got me thinking about it is my upcoming two week surfing strip to Kauai. And, of course, that got me to thinking of fish tacos.

Why do I love them so? Well, mostly, it's because I see my food plan as the Surfer's Diet. I've talked about it before, fish tacos, fruit, water, and sometimes a Corona or a Margarita or a Mai Tai. The Surfer's Diet, to me, is what surfing culture is all about. Simple food, good times, wild surfing, friends, all wrapped in a laid-back lifestyle.

Simply following the Surfer's Diet is a way to embrace the surfing lifestyle and keeps one always in the light-hearted, smiling, trippy stoked, mellow way of living while also keeping a girl's body nice and tight and lean with long graceful surfing muscles and curves.

One of my favorite things to do in Kauai is to simply survive on fish tacos and fruit. I truly love it that much. The fish taco, to me, is the poetry of food, it is, to food, what surfing is to sport.

I love being a surfer, and, thanks to the movies Endless Summer and Endless Summer 2 which so fueled us all with the surfari bug, my plan is to always quest for the perfect fish taco as I flow across the world in search of elusive waves.

After Kauai, I also have numerous surfing trips planned for the Oregon coast as well as possibly San Diego, so, it looks like blending fish tacos and surfing are clearly on the horizon for me for my next few trips.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

SURFING MOVES OF THE DAY 3

Aloha Tribe,

I'm not sure what today will bring yet, we have Double Overhead out at the Straits. But for tomorrow, the waves will be down to around Waist High by late afternoon/early evening and I'm looking forward to some refinement training. TAKE OFF, ANGLING, BOTTOM TURN, PULL OUT.

A seemingly simple set of moves.Yet, even in the simple, one can find true art. I want to focus on my lines on the waves, specifically, my angles. My goal is to have a small of an Angling angle as I can befoe my bottom turn, then, as small of an angle for my Pull Out. This should give me the longest ride possible.

For this, I'll use my Brian Anderson fin, an old style skeg looking kind of very large fin, sort of shaped like half of an oval. It'll offer a nice smooth, slow, gentle, graceful, beautiful set of lines to my angling. Personally, I love this fin for this kind of training focus. It's totally old-school longboarding.

I chose the Pull Out, as opposed to the Kick Out, for this set of moves because it seems to be more in harmony. In the Kick Out, you stomp down or kick down with your back foot, in my case my left foot since I'm goofy foot, and spin or flip the front of your board up and over the lip of the wave as you exit the ride. But, in the Pull Out, it's much more yin and soft, graceful, and beautiful, you simply, carve a line up to the lip and flow over the top.  The Pull Out keeps the lines in a nice arc for this set of moves, instead of ending with sort of a quick fishhook kind of move at the end which, while loads of fun, Kick Out  is much more appropriate for a more dramatic and yang kind of artistic expression.

Once I find the perfect maximum distance I can go for this set of moves, I want to then really hone in to a razors edge various increments of angles on each ride, keeping the angles as tight as possible, and as close together as possible. Perhaps something like 5 degrees, 7 degrees, 10 degrees, and 15 degrees, then, reverse the sequence back progressively working on getting the angles small again.  It'll lead to some really fun experimentation.

My SURFING MOVES OF THE DAY training, is precision training, focused on truly learning specific skills and extreme details to play with and just find joy in. While, the training is structured, it offers a spontaneous in-the-moment pure sense of self-experimentation, based on what the wave is doing at the moment of course, while keeping the structure within a framework, not at all unlike creating poetry with my surfing. I create my own sense of rules, such as a haiku in poetry, then, stick and play within those rules for artistic expression.

A beautiful small wave like what we'll have tomorrow around 4 to 5 PM in the Straits will be perfect for this particular focus. And, it gives a truly beautiful yin expression to the extreme yang we've been having with our 17 to 23 1/2 footers lately.

Today, we're hitting Double Overhead, about 11 foot. And then we'll drop for some yin art tomorrow, then back up to Triple Overhead or a bit over 17 foot by Monday. Way wow you have to love the Pacific Northwest.  You know. It's, virile.  And more so, vigorous. Things a girl can truly embrace on her wild side.

Gerry Lopez had it right, The Waves are Where you Find Them. That's a great book of his, and, a truly beautiful philosophy. No matter what it's like out there, there's ways to find art and beauty in your surfing, even, on a glassy flat day where all you can do is practice speed paddling until you reach muscle failure, then, just sit on the calm water and feel the yin of it all, embracing the flow of the chi as it at first races through your body, then, slowly, over time, slows down in fractional increments, blending each flow of chi harmoneously through your body, until your body and the still water your board floats on become one. It's like the calm after wild screwing. Pure, frenzied fucking, and then just feeling, that's what it's like. You truly learn a lot about yourself in such moments of deep internal awareness and self reflection.

Bodaciouly Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Surfing the Great Lakes - Lake Michigan: The Adventure Continues

Aloha Tribe,

So, continuing with my story, Paul taught me to surf Grand Haven in Lake Michigan. And, just like I was totally blown away by the idea of wax of all things, on a surfboard, so to, was the method of surfing I grew up with.

Regarding the wax, I had, as I have mentioned in my last story, no idea that surfers used surf wax on their boards, I had never seen it nor heard of it, thus, for me, mastery came many long hours later through trial and error of learning to ride a very slippery board simply in bare feet.

Since I had no idea that what I was doing was "wrong," or at least not the way everybody on the face of the planet surfed, I simply practiced and practiced and practiced until I could ride the wake of the speedboat my daddy drove, and, not fall off.

So, I took my board to Grand Haven, and saw, of all things, wax on surfboards. At first, I had no idea what it was, other than it looked rather messy and sort of ugly. That, and all the dings repaired with duct tape, stickers, and some odd looking gray stuff (ding repair), I was in for culture shock.

My board was pristine. All white, nary a dent or scratch on it, and certainly no unsightly surf wax. Yet, I must say, in a way, those boards of the boys, the looked, rugged and wild, like some of the lads themselves, and, the look sort of grew on me.

Now of course, all the local were wondering what was wrong with me, my board was so "new," looking. Virginal, in a sense.

Well, I had seen the locals carrying their boards out on the pier, walking out about 3/4 out or so, then, leaping with board in hand, off the pier into the Lake Michigan water, only to instantly be crushed against the huge rocks making up the base of the pier. Sure, sometimes a boy made it and he had a wild ride with his point break cutting and all, but for the most part, most were totaled on the rocks, only to patch up their boards with yet more stickers (so that's what they were for), and try again.

Paul encouraged me to give it a go and I did. And, by pure luck, I made it. Maybe all that waxless board riding paid off after all. Golly I was lucky.

Yet, with that  ride, I was lifted out of kookdom and become a friend with the locals.


Now personally, I thought that the wax the lads used was "cheating," and I found no reason for it at that time, Likewise, I also thought that running out on a pier of all things, carrying your board, to only jump in way towards the end also seemed like cheating. Then again, it simply wasn't my style, nothing more, and I really didn't understand exactly why they did what they did.  My style was to simply paddle out there  to the lineup from shore, based, quite simply, on the fact that I so loved to swim and paddle.  So, I had tried the infamous Leap of Death once or twice, and I so much preferred my method of paddling out. Not that the leap frightened me, it did not, it's just that, after trying it, I truly missed paddling out. 

So, I'd paddle out, surf in, and then do it again and again and again. Meanwhile, the local lads kept crashing and burning until one by one, they began, much to my total surprise, to copy what I was doing of all people. I was simply a girl who loved to swim and paddle and surf.

Well, that surf session ended eventually, and Paul made the next one, I didn't, but he told me about it, and he was telling me that the locals were still talking about the silly girl  and her waxless paddle out style. Weird how some local traditions start. At least for a little while, one fine Spring when all of us should have been in school in one city or another.

The other thing that comes to mind is the lads insistence on riding the point break. There they were, all bunched up like a herd of starved seagulls desperate for a morsel of nourisment, in this case, their turn at a wave, and yet, just down the beach a tad, was miles of beautiful beach break. So, I rode alone alot. And I grew up that way.

Sure, I'd hang at the pier and on occassion swim off of it, but I had tried the jump in method and it just didn't do anything for me, there was no challenge to it, no excitement, no having to figure out how far out to paddle to be in the right place to catch the perfect wave.

So my surfing career at that age was more or less alone. Paul would do his pier gig with the local lads, and I'd be doing my beach break, alone on the waves. And all would be good in the world. I had found paradise.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Surfing the Great Lakes: My First Board I Made

Aloha Tribe,

I've been up since about 1:30 this morning. Mostly exercising, partially reading my surfing dictionary Surfin'ary by Trevor Cralle (my favorite book), and partially reflecting on days of when.

When I was in 5th grade, I so desperately wanted a surfboard. But, as with so many young girls, I just didn't have lots of money to buy one. But, what I did have was a daddy who worked with styrofoam. He was a taxidermist and often mounted or stuffed animals and birds and fish for hunters and fisherman as well as museums and business and so on. Because of what he did, we had large blocks of thick styrofoam always available. So, I did the only thing that any enterprising girl would do, I went to the library, checked out a book on how to make surfboards, bought the supplies, and begged my daddy for one of his blocks of styrofoam.

Then, began my plans. I looked at photos and drawings of the typical surfboards available then, and, lacking any experience, I simply decided to more or less try to make one like in one of the photos. The ace up my sleeve is that I had watched my daddy make hundreds of styrofoam mounts and so I had an idea of what to do when it came to carving.

I cut out my blank, put the fiberglass on it, added a single fin (it had to be a single fin because that was what the board in the picture looked like, besides, it looked pretty radical).

Before long, the board was done. And, white. All white. I didn't have any access to colors for the fiberglass undercoating so the board was simply the color of the original styrofoam. Which, I thought was perfect since the one in the photo was also white.

I learned initially to surf on that board in the lake that we lived on in Michigan. At first, I simply went out and paddled around, but it wasn't long before I was begging my daddy to drive his speedboat as fast as he could so that I could surf in the wake. Interestingly enough, it worked. Then again, I had no reason to think it wouldn't work since I had no framework to work from.

Eventually, I entered high school several years and lots of wake rides later, and soon I was able to drive. Which, meant one thing. Freedom. Freedom of going to the beach on my own whenever I wanted. Except, for one thing. One tiny thing. School.

Well, I did the only thing any soul surfer would do, I ditched. During the course of my high school education, I skipped a total of 47 days to go surfing. I think we were allowed a week or two, something like that. At any rate, even though the beach was a 45 minute drive away, anytime the wind blew right through the corn field outside one of my classroom windows, I knew the waves were up at Grand Haven, Michigan. And, I'd be off heading toward the magic of the surf.

Grand Haven had great waves. Oh sure, they weren't like California or Hawaii, but, they were perfect for me. Besides, they were more or less all I knew. There was a pier, probably still is, at Grand Haven that jutted out into Lake Michigan roughly 2500 feet or about 833 yards on the south side of the Grand River, creating the perfect point break.

One of the first things I noticed about surfing at Grand Haven was the boards. Well, the first thing I noticed was the waves, but that's besides the point. Everybody had pretty awesome boards. All of them had wild colors, loads of stickers, apparent dings and dents, and, the oddest thing, what appeared like wax all over their decks.

Wax!!!

That was the missing ingredient. Here I had been "surfing," wakes for how many years, all alone, with no access to "real surfers," and thus, I had, for whatever reason never heard about surf wax. I must have missed that part in the books, or, since I tended to skip school a lot, maybe what the books said wasn't as important as jumping in and giving something a go.

I had found my waxless board a might challenging to ride over the years, but, I adapted to it soon enough and came to find that I actually loved slipping all over the deck while I surfed, besides, that's how I thought it was supposed to be done.

Fortunately, I had a best friend who I'd often meet at the beach. He went to another school, a bit closer to the beach than me (he lived about 20 minutes away. We always seemed to ditch school on the same days to go surfing. Imagine that.

Paul taught me about surf wax. And stickers. and how to get color on a board. And, interestingly enough, sex. But that last one isn't really the point of the story. He taught me to surf Grand Haven and a little bit of how to grow up.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Zigzagging for Flow

To the Tribe,

Today, I spent my whole session Zigzagging for the Flow. I just wanted my entire session to be mellow, relaxed, slow, soft, graceful, and beautiful, all to simply way enjoy my sense of minute changes taking place in each of my muscles from the largest to the smallest, from the most external to the most internal,  as well as  with and within my board as she glided smoothly along.

I wanted to truly feel what my board was doing. So every ride was simply about more or less going kind of straight, in a sort of zigzagging kind of way, just to feel the rails rise and fall with each subtle shift.

I truly love sessions like this because, well, it's all about the feel. So smooth, so sure, so balanced, just each tiny sensation surging through my body as I rode, lifting me to total stoke through receptivity instead of adrenaline.

I've been thinking about what some really top surfers and surfing legends have shared lately. It's all about the ride.

And that's what today was about, Pure fun. Just the ride. Again and again and again and again until I felt I had to scream in orgasmic ecstasy. It's a good thing I was alone, I guess. It was one of those sessions. You know.

Thinking back even now, still takes my breath away. Wow, what a day.

One goal. One technique.  Both, the same. Just to practice zigzagging back and forth to my heart's true content, ending the ride only when it had to be ended at the last possible moment.

Prior to that, for my own exercise, I was pulling with a weight harness about 350 or so pounds up and down the sand over and over and over again , just to tax my muscles and lift them into that state of near total fatigue, where for the last lap, all I could do was crawl,  which, the end result being, enabled me to be aware of the tiniest movements as I rode.

It was a truly awesome session today. Everything was perfect.  Just the way a day like this should be.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

A Lesson From a Master

Aloha to the Tribe,

So, I learned something today. From a true surfing Master. She taught me something truly beautiful. She told me to "go with the flow and to enjoy the ride".

In these few words, I find such depth and so many lessons. Such beauty and grace and softness and femininity and  receptiveness. I see, in those words, the soul of a surfing Master.

And I dream, with all of my heart, to one day, be like her.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Surfing Culture and Language Study Program : North Shore - Actor's Wanted Part 2

Aloha to all in the Tribe,

I had such fun doing my North Shore Actors Wanted training session, that, I'm going to repeat it again. Starting, tonight. So, for the next three weeks, once again, I'll fully immerse myself in preparing for the fictitious role, that, while it doesn't exist, would be so awesome if it did.

Just as with before, I'm going to visualize, just for fun, that I've been chosen to play the role of Turtle, only the girl version, in a new movie called, North Shore. And, just like was done before, I'll fully jump into the role from a training perspective by surfing as much as possible, stretching and exercising as much as possible, and learning the language, and studying the culture as deeply as I can. In a way, it's sort of like setting up a fun little  3 camp for myself where exercise then becomes really really fun.  And, the cool thing is that in the process, I not only am contstanly getting in better and better shape, but more so, I'm learning more about the history and culture of surfing, making it truly a fully embraced lifestyle.

Now then, last time, I didn't memorize the lines from the movie, but this time, just for fun and to add a bit of realism to the getting in shape for a role idea, I'll memorize the lines and physical movements too of the character. It sounds like a blast.

Hey, if surfing can't be fun, what's the point, right?

I'm really stoked about my silly little idea. It makes me smile. And, that's an awesome thing. You know, in the Pacific Northwest, we often find ourselves alone at the beach, and most certainly alone on the waves, assuming one goes to the right places at the right time. And, well, without an active surf culture to hang with on the beach, this is my silly plan to keep me "in shape," from a social and cultural perspective. Besides, it's silly and fun. Oh, hey, by the way, it looks like we should be hitting up to triple overhead + with predicted 23 1/2 footers coming. on Monday or perhaps Tuesday.  How cool is that!!!

So, jump in your baja bugs, start up your pickups, toss your boards in your surf cars and head on up here for a wild week next week of surfing. Oh, and, be sure to knock with your elbows. Corona Extra's my style.

If you come, I'll be the girl hanging at the beach practicing lines to the wild wind from an awesome movie.

Tonight, I'll watch North  Shore again, who knows how many times it's been now, and really focusing on memorizing the lines  for my "part" from the whole movie. It'll be fun to see if I can do it in one evening.  I hope so. For what is life if not but for challenges?

Oh, and, just as with last time, my total diet will still be only fish tacos (mostly home-made with an occasional one from Taco del Mar, one fish taco twice a day, and fresh fruit, namely, papayas, mangoes, and pineapple. And tons of fresh Fiji water (to keep me in a tropical charcter mode by the water I drink, after all, why not).  Perhaps with some tequila, Corona Extra, or my favorite, margaritas now and again.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Big Wave Surfing Warm-up

Hey Everyone,

This is the warm-up program  before my regular intense exercise I am enjoying doing every morning. I prefer doing it outside in the sand, even when it's cold and raining and blowing out (which is does a lot in the Pacific Northwest). I like to do these on top of balance disks if the sand is not shifting enough because it is too dry.  I find the balance disks add some nice core warming up to the exercises. I also try to do each of these exercises as smoothly, slowly, gracefully, softly, silently, and beautifully as I can, which adds to the challenge dramatically. Slowness is the true secret, I think  because it's a lot easier to do these fast since momentum then carries you through. By doing them very slowly, therefore, you have to earn each movement by paying for it in sweat.

1. 500 Sit Ups - one set  (sometimes up to three sets in a row)- my abdominal muscles are probably my strongest muscles.

2. 200 Push Ups - one set (this one was challenging the first time I tried it long ago and I  could barely lift my arms the next day). I'd like to get to 400 push ups per set but I'm not there yet.

3. 500 Leg Extensions - one set - this is  probably my weakest exercise and I need to increase my reps per set soon.

4. 500 Twisting Crunches - one set

5. 200 Leg Lifts from Back - one set

6. 200 Leg Lifts from Stomach - one set

7. As many Pull Ups and Chin Ups as I can - typically from ropes (from my loft), tree branches, an indoor pull up bar,  and my outside climbing wall on my garage. This is one of my strengths. I have brachiated (swing by my arms like a gibbon does - up to about 3 miles a day).

It takes about a half hour roughly (or more, depending on how much climbing type exercises I want to do). I like to  do the same routine (another half hour) as my cool down at the end of the day. Last night, I did a third set of everything about 2 A.M.

I find that for me, this is a nice way to get the blood circulating and, well, I find it fun to do. I do wish I knew what Professional Big Wave surfers did to work out though so I'd know if I was at least somewhere in the ballpark as far as training goes.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Big Wave Surfing Training

Good Morning,

I've been thinking a lot about BigWave surfing lately. I think that there will probably be a huge monster wave off Hawaii around Christmas, 2012. And I plan to ride it. No matter its size. So, to do that, I'm training now for it and have been for since last Summer. My training is innovative in that I'm using what I know to help me prepare. I'll also  need a very special surfboard, a gun specifically, and I am in the process of trying to get it shaped (oh how I so hope with all of my heart that the person I have asked to make me this special magical board can make it for me before this year is up -  this is my dream - and, more than just a dream, it is extremely important to me for, sadly, some rather challenging health reasons which I would rather not go into here at this time other than to say it is extremely important and means everything to me).

My training consists of the following...

1. Chi Gung - I believe this is my strongest skill and thus my greatest strength. I have studied this field since the age of 5, training every day, often for most of the entire day. Chi Gung offers me the base strengths in my other skills.

2. Strength Training - Using Chi  Gung, I'm able to lift a lot more than my muscles normally would appear to allow. The reason this works is that Chi Gung fills the muscles with energy or chi and thus gives them tremendous power. As such, I've been able to lift rather awesome amounts of weight at Gold's Gym. I also pull a wagon filled with weight, as well as a large truck tire attached to a climbing harness around my waist.  I also pull and also roll end over end an 8 foot tall, foot in diameter fallen log (my favorite thing to do, inspired by reading about Laird Hamilton).

3. Flexibility Training - This is one of my favorite areas and I use all kinds of fun tools to help me such as several ballet bars, ropes of various sizes, as well as weights and stakes.

4. Freediving: Breath Holding Training - This is a skill that I have trained myself in that I have near the women's world record in once I compete in AIDA (the official freediving association). Currently, I hold my breath under water for over 8 minutes. As I've mentioned in other places, I'm hoping to go over 11 minutes, ideally, by this coming Summer. With focused training, I believe that is within my grasp.

5. Rolling and Tumbling - This exercise comes from remembering what I loved to do as a little girl, namely, roll and tumble down grassy slopes, head over heels again and again and again, as well as to twirl and spin on merry-go-rounds and similar playground equipment. I trained in a more focused way as an adult by taking Aikido lessons every day, 7 days a week, to perfect my rolling and awareness while being thrown in the air.

6. Surfing - This is my favorite thing to do. And, living in the Pacific Northwest, I have access to truly awesomely wild water. In fact, as many of you know, it was in the Pacific Northwest where the phenomenal world's best team of professional watermen  practiced for Billabong Odyssey training because of the rugged environment. I truly love that movie, by the way. Wow those guys were beyond extreme. They all so truly inspire me to train harder.

7. Analysis - I love studying and making connections between seemingly unrelated things. For example, I love to play chess and I see surfing moves on the chess board and chess moves while I surf. The two, seemingly different sports, to me, are truly connected. Using my love of study and playing chess, I focus on surf science and the study of waves, winds, tides, bathymetry and geophysics, currents, oceans, and water temperature and density.

8. Balance Training - I'm constantly working at this in all forms. I use all kinds of wildly fun equipment like Indo Boards, balance balls and spheres, tight ropes, slacklines, balance beams, one legged training, hand stands, single hand handstands, Drunken Style Kung Fu (this is one of the true secrets to balance, I believe), as well as a mechanical/electric horse.

9. Zhan Zhoung Training - And this is more or less the point of this essay today. Big Wave Zhan Zhoung Training. This is, quite possibly, the first time this art has been used for surfing training and it has the potential of offering truly unusual results that utterly stoke me.

Zhan Zhoung is also called the art of Stake Standing or also Standing Like A Tree. It is a form of Chi Gung. And there is pretty much nothing like it. If you want to try something that will utterly kick your ass, then this is it. It seems like the easiest art in the world when you hear about it and even see it, but, to try it, goodness, now that's where the difference comes in. In a nutshell, what you do is to get into a position and simply stand there. That's it. In the broad picture. The entire art is about internal energy and what is happening inside of your body. I've come up with some interesting ways to adapt this ancient Chinese art to surfing and specifically to Big Wave surfing and I'm having such fun training using it.

10. Endurance Training - This consists, for me at least, of running (my weakest skill), swimming (one of my strongest skills - I'll often swim up to 4 hours a day), mountain biking, mountainboarding (this is done on a skateboard with 10 inch diameter tires), SUP (Stand Up Paddling), Wrestling Training using a heavy bag as my opponent (I have a truly wonderful dvd on this), kettlebells (hey, it fits my Siberian/Mongolian hertitage) and martial arts with weapons.

11. Sensory Training - Technically, this is linked directly to Chi Gung in that it is one and the same but the focus here is specifically on developing and honing all of my senses to razor sharpness, particularily senses for detecting extremely subtle movement shifts (perfect for surfing and balance).

12. Shamanism - This is my spiritual path. I have followed it since the age of 5 when I had a near-death accident and technically died for about 20 minutes (as such, I did not chose Shamanism as my path or way, it chose me). I utterly love Shamanism and embrace it fully and live it in everything I do, literally in every moment. Shamanism  sees all things, organic and inorganic, that is to say, animals, plants, sky, water, earth, stars, all of it, everything, as not only connected but filled with energy and alive. Thus, it is a truly beautiful way to respect the ocean and waves. In Hawaii, such a path is called Huna, and those who master it are the Kahuna - Specialists,  (a word familiar to most surfers, though in a slightly different form than the original, based on the book and movie Gidget). I feel truly one with the water. I always have. And through out my life, I have spent as much time as possible in her embrace, learning of her ways. I see the ocean as one of the most beautiful marvels that I can imagine and I truly love feeling her pulse and listening to her language and learning her lessons.

13. Speed Training - Here, I focus on muscle speed, as well as mental speed. Freediving, a sport I practice religiously, develops fast twitch muscles in the body. As does shortboarding. And, big wave riding. Longboarding, not quite as much, though the muscles can be used for longboard expression of course. With speed training, I do things like sprinting, moving as quickly as I can in martial arts and gymnastics, and also, and more related to Big Wave riding as I see it, sprint paddling. I am training myself to be able to fly on my board when I paddle (I prefer laying down while paddling). I want to be able to enter a big wave by paddling into it instead of being towed, and, without footstraps. While tow-in is popular today, and certainly the way to go, I need for a few reasons I have not mentioned, to do it my way.  I am also training visual speed and wind skill speed by traveling as fast as I can exposed to the wind and elements in order to acclimate my body to extremely fast speeds, perhaps 50 mph or faster. I am doing this in a number of innovative ways.

14. Emotional Training - Using Chi Gung, one learns to work with their body and thus their emotions by doing various physical and mental exercises which helps one overcome fear as well as to work with and control adrenaline.  This training, along with the previous one of Speed Training, allows your mind to think incredibly quickly, thus, it appears events happen in extreme slow motion (like the fly flying in the first Spiderman movie that came out a few years ago). Some people experience this type of mental, physical, and visual awareness in extremely dangerous situations, sometimes in sports performances where it is called being in the zone, but for the most part, for most who have experienced it, the feeling or awareness is a hit or miss thing and one had no control over when it happens. With proper training, this type of extremely sensitive awareness becomes your primary awareness state and it is fully accessible at any time and once on, is always on in a sense.

15. Extreme Ocean Swimming - I am inspired by the U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers and find their training truly unbelieveable and  heroic. These people are trained to jump out of helicopters into raging seas of over 20 foot or more waves to rescue all in danger. As such, I am studying them to the best I can and setting up my own training methods for swimming and more so, survival in huge swells while swimming. I don't know how many Big Wave surfers have specifically trained this way but I find it truly exciting the potential that it offers as far as shaping safer Big Wave surfing skills.

16. Cold Water Training - I am doing my best to come up with some innovate cold water training methods in order to be able to surf without a wetsuit. One of the training levels of Chi  Gung is to be able to enter ice water and then to come out and dry off towels by using a combination of body heat and chi. It's a rather advanced level as you can imagine and few get this far in their training.

Using these various training methods, I am hoping to ride that big wave, that Monster Wave that is coming. I can feel it. Sure, it's a Shaman thing, but the pulse is in the air, you can smell it on the breeze, feel it in the water, sense it in the earth. It is coming. And it makes my heart race!!!

Bodacioulsy Stoked,

Lily of the Valley

Breath Holding Mastery for Big Wave Riding

Aloha,

Would you like to be able to hold your breath for over 8 minutes while under water? Would you also like to know how to overcome fear when facing monster waves? Well, there are tons of things you can do to specifically train for these two vital elements of big wave riding.

In Chi Gung, one learns to master not only their breath, but, their internal energy of their body too. And, interestingly enough, both of these are related. You see, there are two primary aspects to Chi Gung training. One is Wai Dan. This means the training of the physical body. The other is Nei Dan, which is the training of the mind.

You see, the energy of the body, or chi, some might think of it as a combination of blood flow, bio-electric energy, and body fluids. But that's only part of the picture. The study of this energy goes much deeper than these. And, it can be controlled using musclar effort or contraction which is the Wai Dan way, or through mental control, which is the Nei Dan method. Naturally, the physical method is easier, and, it provides quicker results. Yet, the mental method, while harder, and taking longer, actually provides much deeper results and thus much more advanced level training. Both, of course, are needed in ones training for each can come into play in different circumstances.

Regarding holding your breath, there are dozens and dozens of physical exercises that one can do, each, specifically geared towards different aspects of holding the breath.  One important reason for learning to hold your breath for a substantial time is that it helps you to gain confidence when you are held under for  two or more monster waves. If you know you can survive, because you have trained properly, and, if your body and mind are in shape to do what is needed, you will be much more relaxed, and thus much better able to last as long as it takes.

There are many ways of holding the breath out there that people know about, yet, most of them are rather challenged in that they try too hard, thus, straining and therefore challenging and stressing  the body unnecessarily. Instead of a yang approach to breath holding, like you'll learn most everywhere, I'd suggest that you at least consider thinkng about exploring a yin approach to holding your breath and overcoming fear.

In a nutshell, instead of forcing your efforts, with this method, you learn to relax into your training, both physically and mentally. This will not only help you to survive radical wipeouts but more so to improve your surfing style for it will get you more in tune with your body than you've ever been.

As you can imagine, sharing all of this will take quite a bit of time, and as such, it'll be in a collection of more or less all of my blog writing taken as a whole. Of course, there are set structured programs for learning this, but that's only one way to learn. Another is a more natural way of learning a bit here and a bit there, which allows the information to be experienced and absorbed in different manners and in a variety of ideas and concepts, and thus, ultimately allows for greater depth of knowledge and experience.

That being said, let's start at the basics. Oh, and if some of you want to have this in a book, take a look at my book Chi Gung: Chinese Healing, Energy, and Natural Magick from your local library. Or buy it in a bookstore or borrow it from a friend. While that book isn't directly about Big Wave riding, indirectly it is in that the ideas and concepts in it apply directly to our sport. And, well, if you read the book and have questions, then simply email me or ask me here and we can talk about them.

So, back to the basics. At this stage, it's all about the breath.  The core idea behind this is that you want your breathing to be soft, slow, silent, graceful, controlled, delicate, beautiful, and, in a way, feminine. This idea might be new to some of you.  If you can hear the breath, it is too loud. If someone can see you breathing, it is too aggressive. If it feels like it start and stops instead of being smoothly rouned, it is to forceful and lacking in control.

Now then, step one. Inhale and exhale through your nose as slowly and softly  and silently as you can yet at the same time, working within your own comfort level. For most people, this will be an inhalation of about 4 seconds or so, and an exhalation of about 4 seconds or so. Just let it come naturally. This natural part, is actually the hard part in that while you are first learning to work with your breath, you are fully conscious of what you are doing and experiencing, yet, you want to get to the point where you can do the exercises without having to rely on mental awareness, in other words, you want to train enough so that eventually the breathing style simply becomes habit. That will take time. Probably a fair amount of time if this is new to you.

So, the first step, as we just talked about, is breathing in and out through your nose. Keep your mouth lightly closed as you do this. And work with it until it is comfortable. While this seems like a simple step, and might have some of you wondering if this is all there is to it, fret not, this is merely step one of a complete and detailed and rather long and intense training program. But we all have to start somewhere so this little exercise here has all of us starting on the same page.

Try this exercise today and simply do it in all that you do. Bring your mind, that is to say, your awareness to your breathing and take note if you can hear it or if it feels like there is a lot of physical movement going on in your body. At this point, simply take note of these things by sensing them.  Be aware of how you breathe when you strap your board on your car. Does your breathing change?  What about when you're waxing your board at the beach? How about when you slip into your wetsuit if you wear one? And as you paddle out, what does your breathing feel like? Are you finding you breathe a lot harder with exercise like paddling? Can  you still paddle and breathe just through your nose? If not, you have some fun training ahead of you. What about sitting in the lineup? What is your breathing like then? And, when you see your wave coming, does your breathing change? And now the tricky part, try to be aware of your breathing as you catch your wave, pop up, and stand. And, be prepared to fall. Multi-tasking might be more challenging than it seems.

Now then, the average surf ride lasts perhaps 8 to 10 seconds on a typical smaller wave and perhaps up to a minute to two minutes on a monster wave. What is your breathing like while riding? Have you ever been aware of it? Try it. And remember, this is but the first step. Eventually, I'll talk about controlling your breath  and chi by not breathing and at that point learning to sense how your internal energy or chi flows through your body as you surf. But that all comes much later.  For today, simply try breathing through your nose. And remember to keep your breathing soft, silent, graceful, beautiful, delicate, feminine, and beautiful.

Oh yes, I was also going to talk abit about overcoming fear too. What fun and exciting things are ahead, yes? According to TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), all of the emotions that we experience, such as fear, are linked to particular organs in our body, and also to certain muscles. By learning to exercise these muscles both physically (Wai Dan), and mentally (Nei Dan), we can learn to overcome fear in a natural manner, more so, we can learn to build upon it to make us stronger, healthier, and better surfers.

Bodaciously Stoked,


Lily of the Valley

16 Footers Up in the Pacific Northwest: Surfing Naked

Wah hoo,

16 Footers up here in the barren and isolated wilderness of the Pacific Northwest dudes, Who needs Hawaii!!!

And, surfing naked. What could be better?

Okay, well, not literally naked, but without a wetsuit. It's my most recent longing. The water up here is about 46 degrees or so, and, while most people would lose consciousness or at least become physically exhausted in about 30 to 60 minutes, with death probably happening in about 1 to 3 hours of immersion, that does not have to be the case. If, you happen to know your Chi Gung. Which, by chance, I do. :)

Naturally, the cold water is, well, cold, but it's doable if one knows how. That being said, it's a rather intense training that is involved, but, the perk is to be able to surf without a wetsuit. Now granted, IF, wetsuits happened to be pink nowadays, going without would be just silly, since, they almost all only come in black, what's the point of having one?

Now then, the question becomes, just how cold of water could one dance in? Hmm, an interesting thought, and, greatly worth experimentation. For just think of the freedom such naked surfing would allow. Okay, sure, a string bikini is a must, not for propriety sake but more so for pure fashion, after all, what's cuter than a French cut string bikini on a tighlty honed girl surfer's body?

16 Footers. Ah, such dreams. Here, now. Today. It makes me think of a chess game I've been studying lately, the Immortal Game from 1851. I feel like the queen in that famous game, ready to launch into an explosive exhaultation of expression, be it, chess, or, in this case, as of this morning's dawn patrol, surfing.

Surfing cold water, without a wetsuit, is a subject and experience that I need to do a lot more ground-breaking exploration into. I first caught the bug on a month long trip to the Highlands and northern Islands of Scotland on a surfing and monster hunting (hey, who doesn't love Nessie) scouting trip last year.  I still dream of surfing the wake of a Russian Ice Cutter Mail Freighter on a delivery run to the North Pole in my favorite red string bikini. Hopefully, by next year if my training goes well. Few could survive the cold, almost none would even want to, I'd imagine, leaving it, virgin surfing ground. The adventure awaits!!! In prepartion for the trip, not only am I studying North Pole exploration training, and contemplating learning Russian (along with learning to drink healthy amounts of vodka), and, of course, honing my Russian style chess. Surfing, Russian chess, foreign languages, vodka, ice cold water on bare skin, what could be more exciting for a surfing adventure!!! Oh, hey, I'm even learning to make pemmican, more so, to like it - and, I normally only eat fruit and fish tacos, goodness.

If you come up here to the Pacific Northwest, watch out for sharks. And, very large salmon. Oh, and if you see a bare skinned snow bunny in a white bikini surfing her ass into liquid perfection on a the cutest red and white longboard you've ever seen, that would be, me.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley