As many of you probably know by now I am a big surfer. Well, truth be told it's a bit worse than that, I’m afraid.  I am a surf freak! 
When I have a free moment or vacation time, I like to take the family - or sometimes even go it alone - and find a remote surf spot.  I have been doing this for years and with today’s worldwide connectivity - the internet bringing us almost real-time local knowledge - you can chase a swell practically around the world. 
Let me tell you the story of my last such trip - one to Huatulco, Mexico to catch the giant west swell of La Barra before the rainy season kicked in.

Most remote places require a local guide to take you to the right spots, deal with local customs, and help avoid a lot of problems you can run into in remote areas.  My guide for this trip was named Uriel, a local surfer from Salina Cruz, Mexico.  Very cool guy. 
We arrived to our villa after a long, long plane flight with a note saying "pick you up @ 6 am".  Well, at that early hour, a bit jet lagged and groggy, my buddy, Mike, and I load up the boards in this old beater suburban and head out.  We have a long drive and most of it on pot-holed, bumpy dirt roads.  Ureil explains that the village we have to go through is very local and poor, so we should not say a word - we should just let him handle it all.
We pull up to a private gate and we pay a tariff to access.  The man at the gate tells us, in Spanish, a bunch of things: about the spot, how to handle the local surfers in the water, where the take off spots are, where not to surf, where the rocks are, etc.  He also informs us that the waves are huge!  How lucky the timing.  Thanks surfline.com!
Well, all of this is creating this churning hole of anxiety inside me.  Talk about fear of the unknown.  The man's speech gave us a lot to think about - put aside the size of the waves...what he said about the locals sounded radical enough...and my shining, white, gringo surfboard.
So, I sit back as we have another 40 minute drive until we reach the beach, and as we push forward bouncing all over the place, I'm thinking of my baby daughter, baby boy, and wife asleep in the hotel without a worry in the world. They have no idea what I am in for, neither do I.  Gosh, what if it's too big?  I am a father now.  Why do I put my self in these situations?
Ahhhhhhhhhhh!  Blah, blah, blah the dialogue is spinning in my head, topic to topic, and turning in my stomach.  I think I need a bathroom.  Then, of course - like I always do - I just laugh out loud.  Our guide probably thinks I am nuts, but my buddy Mike knows I am just doing what he calls the “Greg dance” in my head.  Laughing out loud is acknowledgement that I have caught myself spinning in my head and have returned to earth.
Uriel turns up the stereo which is blaring "Barracuda", the famous song by Heart.  Good tunes, present moment awareness - we get excited for the events ahead.  But here is really where the magic is:  with the music and the laughter comes a silence. A silence of center.

A grand silence bigger then all of us. I start looking at the sky and the hills and the road and the rocks and I get more and more in the moment and more and more fueled with energy.   All my thoughts, all my intentions, are into what's going on right now with a slight gaze outwards, a gaze bigger than me, a humble gaze, a reflection, a thanks, a prayer really. It's a checking in time, a grounding, a truth, a centering.  I know I am ready when I can get to that space; that knowing, that peace, that surrender, that calm. 

No matter the circumstances on every big surf day comes my silence of center.  On this morning it started with a gaze into the Mexico morning; the cement dwellings, the wild dog’s, the people, the faces, the kids playing, the old men staring.  Then I just breathe it all in, breath in life breath in gratitude, and the quiet calming center takes over. 
Almost any event that requires a heightened focus and has the element of danger requires centering.  The higher the stakes the deeper the calming.

I like to use a special ocean visualization exercise.  I am a rock dropping down. The deeper I go, the darker it gets, but the calmer it gets.  I do this exercise in this calm state.  It puts me into a trance-like state.  Now the rocks and bumps that were bone jarring become a smooth rhythmic ride that deepens the breath.  Out of this space breeds a tremendous focus, clarity, grace, strength, and acceptance.  It's so healing and sometimes it takes these life threatening situations for this release to occur.

I have a saying. “There is nothing a day of surfing can't cure".  If we could go to this place and access this calmness all the time, well... this would be my definition of enlightenment. I am working on it. 

So we finally arrive at the break.  Uriel thinks we have fallen back asleep and can't believe it because the waves are huge; it is indeed “Going off".  But quietly we are so energized, clear, and more ready than ever.  We wax our boards slow and specific like a boxer wrapping his wrists for a big fight, and we breathe.  We move into a series of stretches with light dialogue and last minute adjustments between the guide, Mike, and myself.
Here is another quote for you. "There is nothing like nature to bring out your true personality". 
It was “Go” time - time to walk the talk, put the process in play. 
It was an amazing session.
Scary at times, but exhilarating!  When I add up what process I go through and the level of cleanse I reach, it’s so much more than a surf trip to me. 
It's realigning.
It's a new beginning.
It's a perspective switch and clear path once again. 
This is why I travel the world chansing waves. It's because I find my true self every time and reinforce my core values - reminding myself I don't really need to travel any further than my breath to find my center. 
Again, I'm working on it - we all are :) 
But finding that center in the middle of paradise on a surfboard is pretty great too.  Hey, everyone has their path! 

It always spins me out when I come back and my son runs into my arms and my wife says “How was it?”  I always smile, "It was transformational, my love.  Now where's breakfast I am starving!”

Full entry | posted by Gregory Joujon-Roche in Surfing
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