I am twenty-eight weeks pregnant and still surfing. I am humbled by the ocean and the health of my body. Today I was surfing perfect head-high glassy waves, in a state of pure bliss. But then my ego began to creep in, and I started thinking about how nice it must be to lay on my stomach and dig for any waves I wanted. Or how much better I used to surf, how much more in shape my body was, and even questioned myself moving backward.
Looking down seeing that my daughter was with me, made me realize how fortunate I am to be out here with her. I slowed my surfing down and focused on what I COULD DO, which benefited my style in surfing. Maybe less movement and more flow would be super powerful for me when I make my comeback, in January. There is always something new to learn, especially in pregnancy, so I realized, I most definitely am moving forward. I caught some great waves, made myself, my baby, and my family happy, and am moving through a day that I feel fortunate to be alive for.
Detaching our ego from our changing lives is a big part of motherhood. And it's beautiful. That bastard will try its hardest to spoil a good time or a healthy mindset. You can tell that ego to beat it, that you know there is always something to learn and it goes away! As I mentioned before, I truly think my best surfing has yet to be done and I learned through surfing pregnant that my style will greatly benefit from less movement and a more powerful flow.
I'm finding that fighting nature and the laws of physics is not helpful. Perhaps it's the best teacher we've got! I'm learning so much from the pain I'm experiencing, and I'm finding ways to help others improve their flow in the water. Here is a little video of my brused body after surfing these days!!!! Not gonna lie, I am still working through body image issues. I have a big butt and cellulite that I am really ashamed of, BUT that's apart of the ego I am working on destroying!
My body is getting brused up so much but it's so worth it. I'm leaning on my chest to catch waves and using my knees to stabilize while paddling and position. It's amazing how much of your hips and stomach you to catch waves. You can expect that in this stage of it all you are going to be hurting and sore, but your baby is safe and it's more than worth it. Again, you must listen to your body, this is not medial advice and please do not feel bad in any way if you didn't get to surf or do your sport past a certain point.
There is no comparison at all. Listen to your body and really understand the power of intuition. If at any moment your heart is telling you to stop, JUST STOP! This intuition will guide you through motherhood so you may as well start listening now. She is rarely wrong. God gifts that to us all, but more so in motherhood.
What pains are you gaining from in your journey? Comment below!
Thank you for being here.
Love,
Danielle