Mental space around foiling

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I am not sure this will help anyone, but I see this in myself and others, so I put it out there. If it sounds confusing or pretentious, you can happily skip this post, I am just sharing an honest personal view.

  1. Intense phase
    Foiling came along in your life and it is this crazy experience giving you pleasure in different ways, the doing of it, the progression, the immersion (no mind).
    After a good session, you feel satisfied, “complete” for a while, it’s a great mood uplifter.

  2. Decline
    After some time, you feel the desire to have another session. Periods without it are hard to go through.
    Also, with time and practice hours, the pleasure you get from it tends to decrease. Doing it triggers hedonic adaptation, progression slows down, and immersion happens less and less as you don’t need 100% attention as often.
    When you have a “bad” session, you get angry and frustrated, because reality didn’t meet your expectations.

  3. Clinging
    That is where you will think, how can I get more of it? How can I still progress? How can it be more intense? In other words, how can I get more pleasure again?
    You can pick up a new sport, the same cycle will happen.

  4. Introspection
    If you look closely, your baseline mood might be slightly negative, feeling a bit unsatisfied, incomplete, something is missing. So you think, I will DO something about it in the world and that will make me feel okay (how crazy is that?).
    Pleasure works indeed for a while but as you see, it’s only temporary.

  5. A way out
    The reality is that just being alive is the most peaceful experience there is. You can get a glimpse when the mental chatter stops for a moment.
    But there is a cloud of mental suffering on top of it, mostly caused by “I, me, my” thoughts, that can be mistaken for one’s identity. It is the greatest illusion out there.
    If you can see your thoughts/emotions, how can you be it? Can you see a tree and be that tree at the same time?
    Can you even decide/predict what your next thought is going to be? So how can it be you?
    The observer in you, which is actually all you are, is and always will be at peace.

  6. Freedom
    Pleasure in itself is totally fine. Your relationship to it is what causes suffering.
    If you can see the illusion and recognize the inherent peace that is already there, you can be at peace on the inside regardless of outside circumstances, you are free to enjoy sessions without a need for it. You will still score, still progress, but your baseline will be peace regardless.
    If you are having a “bad” session, it comes down to seeing yourself resisting the situation. If you can see yourself resisting or being angry, you are not it. Letting go there and then, accepting the current reality, frees you from further suffering. You can enjoy whatever is going on.

Those principles apply to a lot of themes in life, it is a really cool thing to explore.

Feel free to share your thoughts on the subject if you can relate (?)

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Good reflection. It reminds me of some of the Buddhist teachings I read years ago.

I’ve always admired the folks that never upgrade their kit, rarely learn new maneuvers, but always have a huge grin on their face as they mow the lawn. There’s a saying that probably applies to all activities but I knew it from climbing: “The best climber is the one having the most fun.” I think that probably applies to foiling as well.

I definitely notice on sessions from time to time where my mind is elsewhere while my body is on foil. If my mood turns negative I can usually identify it and stop mid session on my foil. Re-immerse myself in the beauty of the river, and refocus my mind on the positives. I used to push through, but now I prefer to stop and just drift along in the river for that reset.

I resist some of the other struggles you listed by focusing on having other pieces of my life that provide balance and gratitude. For some reason I’ve always been equally or more excited about the achievements of those around me, than of my own personal achievements. I first noticed this when I learned to roll a kayak. I just considered it a box checked but whenever I helped someone else learn to roll a kayak I was stoked out of my mind.

When my wife, dog, friends, clients are all happy I’m a lot happier on the river. I also get a similar feeling of satisfaction or “complete” when I do something that makes their day, which then frees up my mind for the river.

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that’s good stuff right there

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Just had a session this morning; big, sloppy, current-against-bumps, and crossed up. SUP foil. Or not so much “foil”. I observed much of the above going on for me–funny how we can get a bit entitled about having “success” in foiling. Anyway, I found myself getting frustrated by my lack of success getting on foil for anything longer than a few seconds. And I’ve done well in this exact place and situation before, numbers of times.

Noticing my entitlement regarding my performance expectations, and my frustration, I just had to stop, float, and identify the positives: great exercise, progression in balance and stance, I am the only one out here, the beauty of the water, just the fact that I have the luxury of being out here at all, with a working body.

Thank you for the reminder of these good practices, @foilstate !! Great post!

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What is your recommended path for this journey?

I know and understand all of your post but just “being” for longer than a brief moment can seem completely elusive even after extended application.

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Great post and thread. I got sucked in and overly dependent on foiling.

Foiling is so much fun that you/I can become overly reliant on it as a source of happiness and fulfillment. After you become proficient enough you hunt for the perfect set of conditions. For winging, it’s days on the coast in the SF Bay Area when it’s nuking 25+, there are huge rollers glistening in the sun, and you get the most amazing set of hundreds of turns. I let myself get lured into that single minded pleasure trail. I started getting bummed out and irritable when the conditions weren’t good or a winter storm didn’t bring the forecasted level of wind and swell – the whole day or weekend was a bust. I got kind of miserable, always looking for the next set of epic conditions.

Then I started engaging more deeply with my family over simple things: making & eating dinner together, fixing stuff around the house, playing ping pong, etc. I still did those things before but was irritable and unhappy… basically a dick. Along the lines of what bwalnut said, a more balanced view and perspective really helped. I felt much more fulfilled with a greater diversification of activities including working on weekends to reduce stress during the week. Seems obvious on the surface but the mindset and perspective really matter. Working hard and doing tasks around the house is part of the service I provide and once I looked at it that way versus missing out on foiling or other activity, it really helped.

Of course, you still gotta carve out time for sessions :slight_smile: but I approach them with a much more grateful mindset. I am no longer overly reliant on a good session for my happiness.

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I will speak from my own experience but every person has a different way. Everyone’s answer in this thread is different which is beautiful and so interesting.
The idea is to first recognise the inherent peace that is always there within you, and then develop it by coming back to it more and more.

The world is never enough
It started with the realization that despite having a healthy body, great relationships, and plenty of money, I didn’t really feel that happy, my baseline mood was always this subtle sense of lack/void, slightly unsatisfied, never enough. Theorically I was checking all the boxes for it, but in practice I was still feeling the same as ever, not really satisfied, always looking for the next thing (doing) that woud give me a lasting satisfaction, a sense of completeness. That is when I realized the outside world would never be able to fill my inner sense of void (permanently, only temporarily). So I started looking inward instead.

Space between thoughts
I started slowing things down on the outside, doing less, to reduce the mental activity. Then taking a notebook and writting down every thought that would come to mind, for 15-30-45min in a quiet place in nature, until it slows down between thoughts… and there starts to be a space between each thought, and I am still here, witnessing the experience, it is very calm, I can hear, sense, taste, touch, the mind is quiet for a moment. That space is the key, it is the exit door. It is the same space you get to when foiling, by putting yourself in a very challenging situation, the mind chatter is shut off temporarily.

Reinforcing the observer
Then I started to meditate to spend more time in that space. Starting with asking the question “Isn’t the peace that I am searching for not already there?” Yes it is. Then I sit eyes closed and count my breaths on each exhale, thoughts arise, when I catch myself I come back to the breath counting. When the counting is steady for a while I stop counting and change focus on the sounds for example. I can feel that I am the observer and the thinker is temporarily deactivated/reduced, I put my attention on the observer. I try to relax and accept everything there is at that moment, fully.

Back into the world
So now I understand and feel that all I am is this observer, that is the bedrock of my experience. It is this very peaceful, cozy and flowing place to experience the world.
It is the mind that brings suffering by resisting what is (how crazy is that?). When a negative thought/feeling arises, I start going down with it, but then I “wake up” and ask “who is thinking/feeling that?”. Well it’s not me because I can see it as an object, I am only experiencing it temporarily, and putting my energy in it only reinforces it. I see it for what it is, fully accept it, let it go, and it fades away, going back to the peaceful experience. It is by first seeing, then accepting, that you stop suffering at that very moment. You are then left with experiencing the world, here and now. And this process can be extended to all thoughts/feelings that you think are unnecessary at the time, not only the “negative” ones. Every time you catch yourself, that baseline feeling of “being” gets stronger, it expands into one’s life.

A baseline of peace
It is possible to inquiry further, into the nature of “I” for example, which is a great illusion. And further it goes, but that is not necessary to already achieve a massive sense of peace and wellbeing into one’s life. That baseline of peace provides a fertile ground for joy, love, compassion, gratefulness to grow organically, as a byproduct of that environment.
From the above you can already feel that “being” in itself is the greatest experience you will ever have, and all doing is a bonus, a gift into one’s life.

Tools
There are many resources out there, people so far down that track, but don’t forget that those can also be a distraction away from introspection. Eckart tolle, rupert spira, adyashanti, michael singer, krishnamurti, ramana maharshi,… all have a different take on it.
Psilocybin, even in micro-dose, can also be a powerful tool to see what the world looks like when the sense of self and separation decreases, unity becomes obvious.

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Thanks for taking so much time to shed some light on your journey. So well written and the best post I have read on here since this forum started. Also the most useful to me.

Thanks for the inspiration to continue this path, take care and enjoy your journey.

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@foilstate THANKS for taking the time and sharing. This resonates.

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A lot of truth ringing in my ears with these musings especially re the idea of entitlement.
If I have a really crappy session I cut it short, put on my running shoes & go for a run. I never have a bad run as there’s something about running that grounds me & balances me out. The other best thing about running is I never want, or am amped to go for a run. I’m usually irritable or frustrated & make myself get out there as some sort of punishment & as such I don’t start off with the expectation that it will be good. The resulting peacefulness is kind of an unexpected bonus.

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I agree that this has been the best post I’ve seen on this forum! I can definitely relate to this and appreciate you sharing this insight with us. The progression ride can be intense at times and needs moments of reflection to stay balanced, I think. This thread solidifies and makes me feel even better about this foil community in general. If I can be amongst people that share these philosophies, also while enjoying the exciting ride of being early-in on a thrilling new sport, how lucky I am and we all are. What a time to be alive!

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I think that this post looks at the actual riding experience, and yes we get a bit frustrated when conditions are not so good but overall whenever I go riding I end up feeling good and satisfied even if I didn’t score high Gs turns in glassy big wave and waited a lot for each rideable set. I even lived for 1 month in a flat windless place where I had to resort to rock starting which only gets you up to 12 minutes of foil airtime per day, and I was pretty happy(just a bit itchy for some real wave riding).
My theory for this is that a lot of the good feeling we get from a session actually comes from other components:
being in nature (research proofed that)
physical exercise
socializing

I noticed that I even plan my relocation destination according to where it’s possible to ride 6 days a week vs 2-3 in another place.

I always get the most of the conditions and challenge myself so overall I get satisfied from almost all sessions, some I tag as nice, and some I tag as amazing.

Question is, what’s the way out?
mindfulness?
adding another activity with same characteristics (in nature, sport, social) ? dock starting, mountain biking?
relocating to where you can ride more?

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I live in #3/4 :face_with_peeking_eye:

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Prone is hard…like really hard…so much so I think it’s almost impossible if you have a real 9 to 5. You can’t live in real life and be a decent prone foiler, at least I’ve never seen it.

I hustle hard. Extra time with my daughter, big home maintenance projects, taking care of all the extended family in the neighborhood, and side hustling to make my sports budget but there’s considerably more flexibility than a real job. And before - back when I had a real job - i was super LUCKY to be remote and scamming $100k a year from a tech company to foil all day while “working from home”. But even then I KNEW I was a worthless piece of shit and that I shouldn’t spend a NICKEL of that money that I didn’t have to. I’m a dirt bag - I drive a dirt bag car, I live a dirtbag life, I surf every day, and put ALL my extra energy into my family.

My wife is an excellent partner in living small. Our shit cars, our small house, one kid. No debt. You can’t live in the “normal” world of debt and the big house and the fancy cars and the job to support and still do this sport.

This is why on my podcast - the Mediocre one. We’re always taking about people’s jobs and their life and how they live. Your life outside foiling is so much more important to progression than your front wing or your mast!

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About time for a new episode isn’t it? Or did I miss a few when I changed podcast apps. I’ll go check.

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I haven’t put out an episode in a min! I gotta get back on it!

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Idk man, I know plenty of “decent” prone and downwind foilers with the standard 8hr work days. I’ve got a normal job and at least down here in FL can still get out most week days as long as you plan your days out well enough with spouse/kids/dogs etc. In the last 2 weeks I’ve had 25 miles of prone and 15 miles downwind sup of foil time. I respect the dirtbag/corelord lifestyle but its not required to get good at foiling…its not that hard.

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This resonates with me and makes me think about the different experience of winging vs surfing.

Being in Nature:
When I wing, the experience of staying on foil can override the experience of appreciating nature. The blinders go on and I’m far too focused on avoiding other riders and reading swell. I have the best experiences when I ride at aesthetically pleasing locations AND take a break to sit in the water from time to time to take it all it. This is normal with surfing, but not so normal with winging.

Physical Exercise:
It’s become more difficult for me to get exercise out of winging. The more fine tuned my kit is and the more experienced I’ve become the less of a workout it is. Surfing always leaves me feeling pretty fatigued by the end.

Socializing:
The most obvious example of this happened to me recently. I was feeling a littled doggish on the water and was headed in. On my way back to the launch one of the local ripper kids that I’m friends with came out and just having another buddy on the water injected me with another 90 minutes of joy. Winging provides such an opportunity to spread out and enjoy the water whereas something like surfing has a natural lineup where folks sit, chat, interact with each other. My surf friends and I have a tendency to stop and socialize in the water more than my pure wing friends do.

I think you can also rely on any combination of the above three things to maximize the session.
Conditions aren’t good? Focus friendships.
Swell and wind are pumping? Get your physical exercise in.
No one can ride today? Enjoy the solitude and try to take in some wildlife.

Seems like there is always a way to enjoy the session if you can pivot to a different focus.

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I’d buy this bumper sticker. Fully agree.

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I think you are right, but I kind of feel like I don’t have to pivot. Coming from a Gorge perspective: Even flowy sessions on a 5m can be good exercise, you can appreciate the beauty of nature even on crowded session at the Waterfront Park, & you can be social with whoever is around you even if they’re not your normal posse… I enjoy almost every session - whether I only get a few runs on a 6m & have to paddle in, or get spanked a bit on a 2.5 Eastwind day… It goes back to your perspective & your level of gratitude for what we have…

my .02

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