Surf N Sol

The May 2010 issue of Surfer magazine has a short article titled “The Fix,” which examines surfing as an addiction. It’s not a new idea, but there’s an interesting part that compares surfing to meditation in terms of both activities’ abilities to send dopamine (the pleasure neurotransmitter) through our systems. With both surfing and meditation, the level of concentration appears to heighten levels of dopamine, causing a dissociative state, which brings with it better concentration, focus, altered perceptions of time, and lower responses to external stimuli. As a result, the surfer/meditator is calm and focused in the present moment and fully engaged in the experience.

As someone who generally thinks of yoga/meditation and surfing as one and the same, this was a really interesting read– especially to begin to understand it at a physiological level. And, the article points out, dopamine is addictive, which may explain why we get so hooked on surfing. However, there are positive addictions as well as negative ones, and the article also mentions how one study found that surfers test lower for anxiety, depression, and stress– all of which are good things in my book.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love cookies.  Even more, I love cookies and milk.  In fact, I often rate a cookie based on its performance in milk.  Does it soak or does it float?  I guess I started eating Tim Tams in 2004 when I discovered them in New Zealand.  Since then I’ll find them randomly or someone will mail me a pack; I’m sure you can buy them online.  Now I find them in a Pepperidge Farm box.  They appear and taste like the same cookie.  Though, unfortunately, Tim Tams don’t perform well in milk so it won’t really ever contend with, say, the classic choco-chip.  Of course, the first post I see on their Facebook page says: “The Australian ones are much better!!!!!!!”