Mindfulness and Surfing: Reflections for Saltwater Souls

Tiempo de Mirar

by Sam Bleakley

Mindfulness and Surfing casts a fresh perspective on this popular extreme sport, and explores how riding the waves can be the ultimate meditation.

Engaging author Sam Bleakley takes us off on his longboard with a soulful journey across the tideline of his personal and philosophical travels. Through lunar cycles and river surfing to the Taoism of nature, he reveals an acute awareness of what the oceans can tell us about our place in the natural world.

Meditating on one of nature’s greatest elements—its salty swells, flows and peaks—he shares life lessons in mindfulness that surfer and non-surfer alike will relish.

144 pages, Hardcover

Published May 4, 2016

Reviews

[Jonathan Roper · Rating 1 out of 5]

Condescending and smug. Not my thing at all. And I'm a surfer (although deep inside, I'm still a skateboarder!)

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appreciate the message put forth by the author in terms of striving for a green future, but I found the book quite pretentious with unnecessary drawn out and overly descriptive narratives.

[Raquel y sus libros · Rating 1 out of 5]

No es mi tipo de libro.

Podría dividirlo en tres partes :

1) La parte introductoria en la que habla sobre su experiencia con el surf. Esta parte me ha gustado y me ha parecido interesante el acercamiento que hace de la consciencia y el estar en el momento presente y su relación con el surf.

2) La parte en la que habla de cosas que nadie entiende y política. La parte más aburrida del libro sin duda. No habla apenas del surf y el lenguaje que utiliza es para licenciados en filosofía, vamos que no le entiende nadie, y esto no me ha parecido muy correcto porque se supone que es un libro para todo los públicos. Además me parece que habla excesivamente de política.

3) La parte donde habla del surf de nuevo. En casi las últimas 20 páginas del libro vuelve a hablar de la esencia del surf y de cómo aprovechar el deporte para disfrutar del entorno y cuidarlo.

Lo único positivo que saco del libro son un par de frases buenas y la intención del escritor por concienciar sobre la preservación del medio ambiente y de los entornos donde se practica surf.

[dahyung · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked up this book from a 'local' used bookstore (but this book was a new one), as usual, after browsing the 'Sport' section to check yet another surfing book. Because I was with my friend I didn't fully browse this book before purchasing (and my friend paid for it thankfully).

The beginning was fine. Too much Zen stuff without adding his own experience but there were some interesting sentences (based on his own experience) here and there. But. Once he starts mentioning 'egology to ecology' I started seeing some red sign. When he started dropping Heidegger I got warned. 'Others' and Marx... I thought I was done with this book.

The last two chapters, which I completely skipped, were when he thought surfing could be 'radicalized' and 'political,' adding his surf travel in West Africa. (He is from the UK) And tried to intervene in Taoism and surfing while talking about surfers in China. (Yes, a classic case of applying his own thoughts)

He said the localism is stupid and no one owns the waves (not his verbatim). Okay, let me point out just one thing. Being territorial is just a part of human nature and once you start surfing at your 'local' spot (as he also pointed out) over and ever again, in various conditions, you start feeling that the spot is your friend or something (not necessarily owning). When you see some newbies doing their kook-things at your spot. Or playing so well with your own friend (catching all the waves), you will naturally feel being protective. Let's admit this and start from there.

Then we can talk about why there is no localism at Bali and these local surfers at Bali won't be able to be newbies at some rugged breaks in the UK. Why are there so many 'Gringos' in Mexico but not 'Mexicans' in San Diego.

Super naive and waisted my friend's money. Since it's a hardcover, I can't even rip this book off and put it in the trash can, so no one can read. I will need to think about what to do with this 'book.'

[Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a quite shallow attempt at connecting two very deep subjects. Ideas were presented but not explored fully. For example, the author talks briefly about the relationship between board and surfer. Mentions how the surfer judges the board on the first few rides and then, that was it. As a surfer myself, this book had my contemplating about the many different aspects of surfing. But it was through my own contemplating where the real conclusions were drawn. The author needs to work on their sentence structure and flow. Even though the book was short (120 pages) it took more effort then I would have liked to read. It is very choppy, jumps from one idea to the next with seemingly no connection between the two. The ideas in this book have the opportunity to be expanded on in much greater detail and with much more grace. It was quite ironic that the author talked about being a smooth surfer and his writing was anything but. Wouldn’t reccomend.

[Ignacio Iturralde · Rating 1 out of 5]

Un libro realmente decepcionante. Sin estructura ni hilo conductor, es un ejercicio de escritura automática realizado por un surfista mucho más ducho en el «noseriding» que en el «typewriting». Los ejercicios de meditación que propone son de un infantilismo que raya con el ridículo. Su concepción de conciencia plena ecológica es de una gran inconsistencia filosófica.

La traducción al español está al mismo y bajísimo nivel. La traductora demuestra no tener conocimiento alguno de la terminología del surf. Una revisión técnica no le hubiera hecho ningún daño al texto.

Incluye una bibliografía de cierto interés.

[N.S. Cooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've enjoyed this book. A bit different from the majority of my reading, but it's done something worthwhile - a fork in the road; sent me off in a different reading direction. As a child of the water, it chimed with me. I've always loved the sea, because the land-based 'stuff' just can't get out there. It was Mindfulness before I knew what that meant. Also there's interesting history and culture in the narrative, and ideas for the future. And now closing this book I can think only of opening maps and searching out that fresh swell - to see where it might take me :)

[Helen Cooley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love surfing and practice mindfulness and meditation. Along with the beautifully illustrated hardback cover, this book looked to be right up my street. It wasn’t. It was disappointing. Much of the book is so pretentious I wondered what the hell the author was actually trying to say - it was painful to read! Some sections were interesting and redeemed it from a 1 star review (ancient surfing in Hawaii and, surprisingly, China). But on the whole I wouldn’t bother. Just go surfing and enjoy the beauty of the ocean and the calm, wonderful headspace surfing brings.

[Ruthita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being a surfer I was intrigued to pick up the book! I wasn’t really sure where he would be going with the book. The first few chapters were a bit wishy-washy and lacking some flow as he attempts to connect surfing to mindfulness. I feel this section could be more succinct and to the point. He almost lost me there, but being as the book was about surfing and a relatively short book - I persevered. Things picked up once he began talking about the history of surfing, and the discussion chapters after that flowed much better.
You’ll be able to finish it in a day.

[annalydiatrost · Rating 1 out of 5]

“Mindfulness is usually described as an inward-looking process of stopping, reflecting and clearing the mind in learning a discipline of meditation or Zen awareness. (…) Surfing as mindfulness, however, does something a little different. It does not simply take us inside ourselves to find a still centre, but rather orients us within the environment to find place.” (Bleakley 2017, 8)

I guess I expected something different, my mistake. It was much more historical and bibliographic than I anticipated. Even though this was not the read for me, I LOVED THE QUOTE ABOVE. What a beautiful thought!

[Eamon Daly · Rating 5 out of 5]

What seemed like a short, light read was in fact a fairly informative eco-tourism book.

Bleakely's recount of surfing's cultural place, past and present, demonstrates an impressive level of insight into the unique history of several surfing locations that wouldn't initially spring to mind.

Including a range of mindful tasks to try, this book made me want to drop everything in favour of a mindful surf.

[Ignacy · Rating 2 out of 5]

General information about the history of surfing and emphasis on greener and more ecological future are the only parts of the book which are valuable.
The rest, which is unfortunately majority of the book, feels like something that was written by the author only to satisfy his own ego. If it worked then good but no reason for you to waste time in reading it.

[Steven Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some hideously superficial reviews here. Not everyone who read this book will understand surfing hence the explanations behind narratives and surf jargon.

I found it throughly gripping and a great start to surf writing and wanting to explore more about the human connection from surf to spirit.

[Laura Palumbo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall it was an interesting read. At times it felt like the author was off topic or being redundant. I really enjoyed his reflections on surfing waves. There are also some good mindfulness strategies peppered throughout the book.

[Aysh Shemi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book, it flowed through me and made sense

[Leon Hermanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting insight into Sam’s thoughts on surfing and it’s cultural impact. Has some mindfulness exercises to bring mindfulness into your surfing, which is great!

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesante sobre todo porque habla mucho de la historia del Surf, pero en ocasiones es demasiado egocéntrico.

[Meintje · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was fun and interesting.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a saltwater soul. Never tried surfing. I loved this book. It's so relaxing and "beachy". I loved the mindfulness exercises especially Being at the Beach. I am a Type A personality on steroids. Ironically, whenever I have tried to meditate I fall asleep within minutes. I kept telling everyone I sucked at it. My friend said - no - you are fantastic at it. I can fall asleep at the beach with the greatest of ease. Much faster than I can if I am in a bed. Water is powerful. Knowing how to relax your mind and soul is priceless. I really loved this book.

[Travis Laird · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really lacked any structure or flow. Promised so much by the title and aesthetic but the content really let it down!

[Danny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I though this book was a good, it didn't change my life, yet it was a truly enjoyable read.