We know that different people have different fitness levels and treatment can seriously take its toll on our bodies. In order to help you to get the most from the sessions it may be helpful for you to think about your current physical mobility, and at what point in your recovery post-treatment our retreats would be manageable for you. It might be that you are ‘good to go’ from the off, or it may be that the retreats offer you something to aim for further down the line. There is no ‘cut-off’ for when you can join us post-treatment, we know that recovery takes time.
Laying on our bellies and shooting along the waves horizontally (usually with huge grins plastered on our faces!) is great. For some, it is absolutely enough and we can stick at this, either on surfboards or bodyboards, whichever is more comfortable. For those that wish to try and surf standing up (the best bit if you ask Dannie and Helen), there is a little more skill and finesse involved, but it is entirely achievable! To help you know a little more about what this entails, the following talks you through the process of standing up and some of the mobility needed – this might give you a little bit of a guide as to when would be a good time for you to join us if you want to stand and surf.
In order to stand on a surfboard you need to be able to move through a range of positions. These include laying on or pulling yourself on to the board while it is in the water, laying on your front, pushing yourself up with your arms to a ‘table top’ kneeling position, and then moving up into a standing position. Don’t worry, all of this can be done slowly, and we generally get everyone to practice each stage several times before they move on so that they learn what feels comfortable for them, and learn to balance on the board. Again, you are welcome to knee-ride, or sit on the board rather than trying to stand if this works better for you.
If you want to then progress your surfing to the next level, being able to paddle is the next goal. This means having a range of motion in your shoulders (think: front crawl on a board). Don’t worry though, we will be on hand in the water to help send you on some epic waves if this too much of a challenge.
Surfing does take energy and is a bit of a cardio workout – knowing that fatigue is common in recovery, we will make sure to schedule lots of breaks and keep sessions short to help with pacing energy. We will also provide you with a pre-retreat guide which gives you some exercises you might like to try out at home before you join us so that you can start building your surf-specific muscle strength.
All this is easier than it sounds, and we will guide you through it with hands-on support in the water. It may be useful for you to talk with your medical team prior to attending to help you to decide when would be a good time for you to join us. If you would like to talk with our team about this too, please do get in touch.
