The How to of Surfing Waves for Beginners: The benefits of surfing

Surfing waves for the first time can either be a motivating experience or a one that turns you away from the ocean indefinitely, or for a very long time. Hopefully, in your mind you are determined to learn and not let anything get in the way of that determination. Learning to surf may be easier for someone who grew up near the ocean and knows how to swim, but surfing really is a 'for anyone' sport and anyone with the desire can pick it up and enjoy the long lasting benefits of the sport.
The benefits of surfing will shortly manifest as one learns to surf, but for those with a doubting mind here are a few of the benefits of surfing.
1. Relaxation and meditation; while in the water paddling out to the waves or just sitting waiting for the next set, the sway of the ocean and oneness with the elements and nature calms your soul, washes away worries, and every detail and minor nuances seems to wash away with every wave.
2. Exercise; surfing is really great for your heart, with this major muscle located between the hardest working parts of your body-your arms, your heart gets a jump start and working as soon as you hop into the water, and for the remainder of the surf session. You will tone your back, shoulders, triceps, and lower back to name a few.
3. Making friends; surfing is a great way to meet new people. In beginning to surf its always good to go with someone, if you don't know anyone its possible that you will meet someone out in the ocean who wouldn't mind having someone to share a sweet wave with. You can also meet a future mate out while surfing-and man, are they gonna have nice shoulders and backs!
4. Tanning; surfing is the optimal way to get a tan, while out in the water your hit from the sun and the reflection off the ocean at the same time, from all directions, which means tan tan tan!! disclaimer-please do where sunscreen to protect yourself as much as possible from the damaging effects of the sun.
5. Natural high; Despite what people say there are many other ways to get high without herbs. One of them is surfing waves, the unexplainable high that you get when gliding swiftly down a wave, cutting back up and doing it over and over again is a high that you'll want everyday-because it feels so good.
Now that the benefits were laid out plain and simple, its time to hop on a board and reap the benefits of surfing waves!

Surfing Waves: A beginning

If a book had been written about the ‘how to of surfing waves for beginners' I would have been the first one to read it; but back then I couldn't read, didn’t understand waves or surfing, and rather enjoyed playing half naked in my cloth diapers in the white wash that climbed the sandy beach. I was young but even at that age I loved the taste of the salty water. It became like an elixir calling me back to the ocean day after day. For the majority of my young life I frolicked like a sea nymph, swimming and diving, and occasionally 'boogie boarding' on the shore breaking waves, but surfing waves? actually standing and gliding on the face of the wave was incomprehensible. I didn’t think that I could do something like that so I didn’t even try. And though the waves continued to roll to the shore in my backyard, and surfers continued to play in the surf, all I could do was watch. I didn’t know one surfer-and the ocean was a big place for a little ‘ole nobody like me.

I wish someone invited me to the party earlier though. I wish someone would’ve said 'hey let's go surf some waves', 'let's go get high...from surfing 'stoke'', 'let's leave all the worries on the beach, and just have fun' but no, no one came knocking on my door. I had to turn 17 before being invited to join this group of surfers-a group that extended across the world, young and old, man and woman, bums and business people, all of whom loved surfing waves, big ones, and small ones and everything in-between.

At first I beat myself up for not taking the initiative to learn to surf earlier but starting then was better than later. I struggled through a whole year of learning to surf, it was the best and most memorable years of surfing, not because I 'ripped it up' but because it took a lot of effort and a lot of 'worthy' pain to actually catch and ride my first waves. Surfing was hard for me at the beginning, and sadly many of the friends I tried recruiting, quit after the first attempt. I don't blame them, there were a lot of scars, almost drowning’s, animal encounters, and missed hours of school and work; but there were also a lot of sweet waves and surfing euphoria. I know that if I had had a ‘how to of surfing waves for beginners’ of some sort I would’ve been surfing the good waves sooner instead of paddling to them and watching them crash in front of me while I floated like a log beside it. Why didn't I stop, paddle out of the surf and dump my surfboard on the sand after breaking it in half? It was because I had felt the excitement of catching a wave, which in time every beginner will experience-the glue that will permanently bind you to surfing. Another one of the great things about surfing are the skills learned, like watching the tides and the currents, listening and feeling for the directions of the winds, learning to respect the ocean, and ultimately knowing where to catch the best waves. Surfing like anything else has a beginning, a place to start, the greatest surfers started at that point, why not you? The 'how to of surfing waves for beginners' will get you into the water with the knowledge necessary to enjoy the beauty of surfing waves, not void of pain and full of orgasmic energy.