Mind, body, spirit, soul – bringing it back to SUP basics and first loves.

A true story about tapping back into the source.

‘I’ve done so much paddling over the years; flat water to waves, windy conditions, sheltered locations and everything else in between. The main reason stand up entered my life was to make best use of fickle, infrequent, occasionally good and offshore surf. A surfboard was/is just no good. But with a SUP under feet the whole picture changes…

Waves don’t happen all the time. It’s often a case of windy or flat. Add this to a want/need to investigate what else SUP had to offer and a whole raft of flat water paddling has been completed.

Too much of a good thing isn’t always great and I’ll be honest: during the last few years flat water SUP had started to become a little samey. I’m not a racer and don’t have the time for proper off grid adventure SUP sojourns. And actually, all I really want to do is surf.

Up until recently rippable waves had been very much lacking. The last few winters have had other ‘stuff’ in the mix preventing me from making use of decent wave days. Slowly thoughts of surf subsided and disappeared replaced with other water craft daydreams. When you stop looking you start to forget, almost…

Then, around two weeks back, I scored a session in some pretty solid swell. Fun, steep drops with speed on tap makes carves and turns all the more fulfilling. So much better than having to ‘scratch’ down a face. But it didn’t just stop there. Over the last 14 days I’ve enjoyed eight cracking sessions – often being the only paddler in the water (just how I like it). It helps the bank is particularly set up at the moment meaning even short period swells are breaking. And I’ve been back riding my old faithful SUP, a platform that continues to provide the goods some years on.

I’d forgotten just how good for the soul simply sliding along walls of salty brine are. No other equipment clutter (apart from the paddle) making it a simple act of grabbing my gear and going.

The warming glow I’ve felt after each session has been tangible. Surfers call this feeling stoke but I like to describe it as contentment. And that’s been something lacking these last few years.

I know the run of conditions won’t last but in the short term I’m glad to have reconnected with a passion I’d been sorely missing. A fact I didn’t even appreciate until I stepped back into the surf SUP mix.

Whatever you find good for the soul – be that SUP or other – I’d urge you to keep with it as much as possible. In these uncertain times anything that provides a little stoke and helps when coping with real life is only a good thing in my book’.

What feeds your soul and keeps you level? Let us know.