I went surfing with some friends today. Sports such as cycling, surfing and skiing possess a wonderful quality that in many ways plays a fundamental part in our wellbeing.

The physical exercise is of course a huge beneficial pay off from doing it but there’s also a mental one as well.

When I go surfing, I gain a sense of many things that are there, pure and in the moment. The sea air, the first impact of the water as it touches my feet, the waves crashing against my body, watching the swell carefully as I attempt to catch a wave, feeling the move of the current underneath me and the ecstasy of riding with a wave and standing on the board. There’s also the cathartic quality of the sound of waves as they move in and out, an ebb and flow where tides are connected to the movement of the moon. It’s phenomenal when you think about it.

As all of those things happen to me when I surf, I am there in that moment in the here and now.

It’s easy to spend our lives thinking about where we are going or what directions we are steering towards, but when I surf, all of that disappears and I ride the waves.