Saltwater in the Blood: Surfing, Natural Cycles and the Sea's Power to Heal

This is an incredibly inspiring exploration of the sea's role in the wellness of people and the planet, beautifully written by Easkey Britton - big-wave surfer, scientist and social activist. She offers a powerful female perspective on the sea and surfing, explaining what it's like, as a big-wave surfer, to be a woman in a man's world and how she promoted the sport to women in Iran, surfing while fully covered and wearing a hijab. She speaks of the undiscussed taboo around entering the water while menstruating - and of how she has come to celebrate her own bodily cycles. She has developed her own approach to surfing, which instead of seeking to dominate the waves at all times, works in tune with the natural cycles of her body, the moon and the seasons. In a society that rewards busyness, she believes that understanding the influence of cycles becomes even more important - and we all have them, men and women.

For Easkey, the sea is a source of mental and physical wellbeing. She explores the mental toughness needed in big-wave surfing, and presents surfing as an embodied mindfulness practice in which we can find flow and connect with the movement of the waves. And she stresses that we need to recognize the ocean as our most powerful ally when it comes to addressing our greatest global challenge: the climate crisis. Above all, Easkey's relationship to the sea and surf has taught her about the need to meet life and evolve with and through it, rather than seeking to control it. By such wisdom our planet might just survive and thrive.