Breaking the Wave Part three: We follow Lovisa Ståhl as she journeys through surf
By Lovisa Ståhl · On February 8, 2016I received the beautiful message that waves were on their way. I was now back in the north of Italy after my trip to Sardinia, I jumped in my little Fiat Panda and drove to Recco.
I was greeted sweetly as always by the staff at Blackwave surf school and they gave me a board, after my surf camp without waves in Sardinia I was even more eager to learn.
From the few lessons I had taken (two), I decided that I had received enough advice to go without an instructor and practice what I had learned. An instructor would probably come in handy again, but right now I wanted to practice on my own.
It was a beautiful summer day or actually summer days, because my third, fourth and fifth time was kind of the same story. All of those times, I paddled out and sat in wait for the waves among my fellow surfers.
I tried to catch a wave, but most of the time I didn’t. I went in to shore with many waves though, both me and the board, but my intention to stand up on the board was not happening.
At these moments I just felt so stupid, like I was in a comedy show
I went beside the board, under the board, sometimes sitting on the board - at least facing the right direction. Sometimes there was a wave where I hadn’t turned the board, because my intention wasn’t to get it. The wave thought differently and took me and my board towards the beach when my face was towards the horizon and my feet towards the shore. At these moments I just felt so stupid, like I was in a comedy show.
I was thinking at times to change my name to Domina Nosediver - falling and nosediving was something I seemed to be doing more than actually surfing.
I was thinking if nosediving could ever be considered an art-form, perhaps I have found something I could really be good at…
As a beginner, no matter what you do, you have a lousy technique and I was no different. I was fighting the waves so much just to paddle out. People seemed to do it so much easier than I did, and when I finally got to the lineup I really had to catch my breath.
The other surfers, the ones that were standing up on their boards, were sweet and gave me some very helpful advice. Among all these beside/under/backward rides I had actually managed to stand up a few times.
Those moments were magic. One ride, as I stood up, I was full of hope again. Maybe, after all, even I could figure out the art of surfing.
When I’m in the water, life is perfect - like I never had any problems
No matter the struggle to conquer surfing, when I’m sitting waiting for a wave, paddling out or going in, it seems like I never had any problems in my life and that I never would get any. When I’m in the water, life is perfect.
I had bruises on my hipbone, knee, my lower ribs were aching and I had a broken toenail. When I saw the marks and felt the pain in my body, I just felt happiness, because I knew where they came from.
I had all that pain for the reason of spending time with something I already was in love with. The pain reminded me of happiness, relaxation and peace.
It also made me realise that it wasn’t a dream. That perfect beauty could remain in my life. I could go again and feel the same thing. I had this feeling already at this early stage.
Those few moments I stood up on the board and went in is just as hard to describe as love. There’s just not enough words in the world to describe it.
I feel a very big change in my life has happened. From never surfing, to not thinking about much else. I’m hooked.
To find out more about Lovisa visit www.lovisastahl.com
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