Blue crush

For help with life-changing events, nothing is as uplifting as surfing – especially when it comes with added therapy. Harriet Quick gets on board.

activity that nothing else seems to matter,” is how he describes this key to happiness.

“Learning accelerates 500 per cent – we absorb information faster and gain mastery. Creativity goes up,” says Dickson, who discovered the positive effect on his own mindset during a surf yoga retreat. His work as a psychologist and EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing) therapist for trauma recovery, at his London clinic, led Dickson to develop a series of retreats that to date have benefitted men and women aged 18 to 70 with a range of concerns from relationship and work crises to depression, fear, grief and heartbreak. The focus of my week of surf, evidence-based psychoeducation and experiential group therapy (and more baby bananas than I ever imagined I would want to eat) is “resilience and flow”. Resilience is about stamina, about opening the windows of perception (without Silicon Valley-style micro-dosing).

The location is a small town along the coast from Agadir, with its mongrel beach dogs, goatherds, half-built resorts, wide sand beaches, rugged dunes and spectacular point breaks (a draw for surf bums at sunset). The program starts at 7am with dawn yoga on the rooftop of the riad hotel, followed by a psychoeducation class and a three-hour surf slot. Beaches are chosen on a day-by-day basis, according to surf conditions. Mid-afternoon (in a lucid post-flow ‘recovery’ state) there is a group therapy workshop, and the day is topped off by yin yoga. Punctuated by wholesome meals and spots of quiet time, the week is intense, and immersion rapid. I learnt that people are never what they first seem. The superficially ‘got it all together’ woman with the zebra-print sweat top was embroiled in an eye-watering family dispute to match Succession; a serious architect with a brilliant knowledge of 1970s disaster movies was plagued by rock-bottom self-esteem.

For me, the death of a close friend had triggered a flood of anxiety. For the other clients (10 in total), infidelity, divorce, addiction recovery and career re-evaluation all counted. “For many, it’s the first foray into psychological health, but there’s a general ‘my life is not where I want it to be’ sense that unites,” says Dickson. “The principle is the same whether depressed, or doing well and wanting to do better. The retreat is about helping people reach their peak performance. In short, to flourish. Nothing is mandatory – you can go to the casino in Agadir, should you wish. But people rarely do.”

Everyone experiences multiple wipeouts, and we cheer each other back on to the boards. The surf-school bonding helps dissolve barriers in the classroom – a cushion-strewn area overlooking the interior courtyard at the riad.

Here, the experience of witnessing grown men sob is humbling, as is the act of articulating private truths in front of strangers. As a journalist and editor, I initially found myself inchoate – I’m used to writing and analysis, not speaking soul truths.

What I relished was the safe, warm space to explore the mind, and everyone pitching in with stories and lessons. Dickson’s teaching is based on science and is free from the motivational self-worth homilies that bombard us through social media. His touchpoints span Aristotle (surely the godfather of wellbeing) and psychologists such as Carol Dweck, the author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, and Angela Duckworth, a Ted Talks favourite who expounded the notion of ‘grit’. “As kids we play and learn about adult life skills and how the world works,” says Dickson. “The importance of play is no different when we get older, yet as adults we dismiss playful activities. But the activity is the reward, and that creates a virtuous circle.” The post-play state creates a receptive, even ‘eureka’, mindset that allows one to recognise blocks and explore new ideas. The afternoon group therapy sessions (some involve role playing, others movement or wordplay) help tease out subconscious knots and unhelpful residual attitudes.

“Happiness is not a dirty word, and people do realise that they have to work at it,” says Dickson. “Happiness is the reward for doing life right, and to do that, life has to be right for you, and you need to work towards your values.” After a week, I had a new group of connections, strong surf thighs, a template for future living, and an even deeper Gabriel Medina crush.