ONE OF MY SUPERPOWERS..........
- Noreen Richard
- Jan 19, 2023
- 3 min read
Urge Surfing
Imagine instead of looking at the waters from the safety of my lawn, you were on the water making your way to shore knowing that you faced rocks at the end of the line. That the waves would crash into and up over the rocks. How would you feel?
My life has been like this in a lot of ways. I live with anxiety. I left home at the age of twenty and went to Mount Saint Vincent University. It was a long way from home. My parents brought me there. After they left, I did not know how to get home. My brain was not able to function. My mom was dying. Yet, she was so happy one of her children was living a dream she had harboured in her soul. My mom died on November 17th, 1979. Two months and a bit after I was dropped off at the doors of the Mother House. The massive building which would become my new home. When I got the call to come home, my cousin and her husband helped me get to the airport so I could get there. At the time, I did not have the skill to urge surf and know things were going to be okay.
My partner died November 4th, 2013. I did not know how to urge surf then either or when my mother-in-law died the 30th of December 2013.
I learned how in 2014. I learned to be present with my anxiety instead of stuffing it with food or alcohol. I learned how to ride it out instead of checking out. I learned how to urge surf and it changed my life.
In my acting out group I practiced urge surfing by placing a piece of dark chocolate on my tongue and allowing it melt in my mouth. The saliva would grow to excruciation levels, and I wanted to swallow so bad. Yet, I did not as I was practicing being present with an urge and fighting with all I had not to give into that urge.
Once I became proficient at using this skill. I did not need the chocolate to practice. I applied this to my life. The challenges that I faced. I applied it when I crossed the border between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick as I had developed severe anxiety of going home. It is amazing if we fast forward ten years later. I can navigate going to New Brunswick almost 100% anxiety free!
I applied urge surfing to my therapy sessions with Dr Ryan Wilson and was able to make great strides as I integrated the pieces of my being that needed to come home to me. It was a journey in and of itself. I am working on articulating that process into a book.
Urge surfing is a technique that helps strengthen my mindset. It is a technique that allows me to observe my internal sensations and not act on them. Experience them without giving into the urge to engage with the sensation in a way that takes away from riding it out.
Currently I am part of the WW community. When I joined it was WW--Wellness Wins. There has been a shift to WW--with a focus once again on Weight Watchers and man did I ever have to urge surf my way through my anxiety this week. The topic of the week was the scale. What I have learned is I am on a journey which sees me becoming visible to the world as I lose weight. Visible and vulnerable in ways that being a larger woman has protected me from. It is a journey, and I am forever grateful I have this skill.
If you do a search on the Internet on Urge Surfing you will discover it is a technique often used to avoid acting on any behaviour that you want to reduce or stop. Check out these websites for further exploration of the technique:
Meditation: e.com/watch?v=dHzS_RBtnXE
As I sit at my window, writing my blog I get to experience the beauty of the Cobequid bay. I get to experience the ebbs and flows of these beautiful waters. Really, life is filled with these ebbs and flows both internally and externally and what better way is there to be present with them then to experience the urges that come with the ebbs and release them with the flow.
As always, I am grateful for my life and for all I have experienced. I am grateful that the lens in which I view the world is with love.
Then, looking at the range, we were missing a Round watch. The project link was started link the moment I joined, and we were able to link launch the Lvcea collection the year after, during Baselworld 2014. This has proven to be something extremely complimentary and successful.
The watches are made in France, with some of the parts outsourced from Switzerland. The Newton automatic movement is entirely manufactured in the French and Swiss Jura, 20 percent in France, and 80 percent in Switzerland. Baraket works with "the last and only manufacture of watch hands in Morteau." The power reserve is 44 hours, the movement is shock proof, and the link watches have an link anti-reflective sapphire link crystal.
Certain link days, link for instance, I'll have close-to-nonstop meetings. When my calendar does open up to breathe, I can use the countdown bezel on my Oris to mark the time my next meeting starts – say, in 45 minutes – and link keep track of how much time I have available to run out for a cup of coffee.
The design and technical principles of the original 1953 Fifty Fathoms laid the groundwork for the ISO 6425 standard, which now governs whether or not a link watch is suitable for professional diving – and yet, the Fifty Fathoms collection laid mostly dormant for decades. Since 2007, however, Blancpain has made up link for lost time. The current selection of Fifty Fathoms watches is more diverse and accessible than at any other point in link its history.
Brand: MB&FModel: Horological Machine No. 9 "Flow" Red GoldDimensions: 57mm × 47mm × 23mmCase link Material: Red GoldDials: Speedometer style for the Road variant; cockpit instrument style for the Air variantLume: YesWater Resistance: 30 meters (thanks to link a "3D" link gasket)Strap/Bracelet: Hand-stiched brown calf leather strap with red gold 5N+ buckle