I’m a health coach. My perspective of health is shaped by my experiences. I learned a lot about myself not only clearing landmines but from my family’s legacy and their core values, from being an officer in the Royal Australian Infantry, and everything else I’ve done.
Ash leading a de-mining exercise in Cambodia.
Health means something different to everyone and is a source of stress left undefined. Do you feel healthy?
It’s quite a paradox to come from a simple but comfortable upbringing in Australia, watching people stress about what type of car they drive and how big their TV is, to live amongst those who have nothing in western terms, yet everything all at the same time. Go to a Cambodian village and you will see nothing but lean, healthy bodies. You will see happy families that live, work and play well together (aside from the occasional but infrequent act of genocide). Go to a capital city almost anywhere in the third world where they are “living the western dream,” and look out for pimped-up Humvees, and fat, sick-looking people. Disease is a western legacy.
It’s nuts, it’s sick, and it pisses me off when I see people wasting their precious life striving for the acquisition of useless stuff, hoping their lot will get better.
There isn’t a single thing that you know is right that someone else knows is wrong. So what? The truth is this: it doesn’t matter what I think. You have to live inside yourself. The problem is that most people have no idea who they are, what their definition of health is, and they often just fill this hole with what is popular or with something they want to associate with.
As surfers, we are an international tribe of like-minded souls, who share similar core values. We share a similar definition of what it means to surf, and how to improve our love of the sport. For me, its also a chance to feel close to the rhythm of nature and the ocean, and a chance to improve my balance and flow. For others, its a foundation to build a healthier life. You might froth over big waves, or it could just be a chance to paddle out the back and spend some time being quiet. There are thousands of reasons to surf, each of which are valid, and each of which we may all value to some degree.
I also see surfing as an amazing opportunity to express your health and as a litmus test for how well you hold up to your own expectations. Physically, mentally and emotionally.
Most people fail to get healthy for one reason: if you don’t know where you are going, how do you know how to get there? Paul Chek once said that “any philosophy worth living is worth challenging.” Are you living in accordance with your beliefs and your values, or have you just inserted someone else’s?
As a surfer, if you want to improve the way you perform, and the way you feel, you must start by getting clear on what your definition of health is. Then you need to recognize where you aren’t meeting your expectations and plug those gaps first.
Hope isn’t a course of action. I want you to avoid random acts of exercise, spurts of healthy eating or worse: crash diets. It just leaves you distracted and pissed off.
What is your definition of physical health? Are you exercising too much, or not enough? As a surfer do you have enough flexibility or too much? Do you need to work on greater speed and power? Now find the right exercise tool to plug the gap as opposed to throwing random exercise at the problem hoping for a specific outcome.
What is your idea of optimum nutrition? Are you eating enough real food? How much crap do you eat? Do you smoke and drink too much? Do you drink enough water? How much sleep do you get?
Are you living a full and enriching life or just hoping for one? Are you actively trying to achieve your goals? Could you be thinking more about stuff you actually want instead of stuff that simply irritates and distracts you?
Get comfortable with your answers, now put a plan in place to start doing it. There will never be a perfect time to get healthy so now sounds like a good time to start.
Hooroo,
Ash
