01 Surfing

This is a core element that underlines and supports everything we do. There is a growing body of research and work that links the practice of surfing to a host of beneficial mental improvements, and it is our love of surfing that has provided the initial impetus to create Resurface. On the intensive you will receive expert 1-2-1 surf tuition to meet your individual surfing needs.

1. Surfing requires a singularity of focus that literally takes your mind off everything else going on in your life. Surfing forces you to focus on the task in hand and stay in the present.

2. The ocean has the cathartic ability to wash away negative emotions by putting them in a context of something much bigger and more powerful than someone’s individual life experience.

3. Learning to surf puts you in the flow channel where you get into “the pocket” or “in the zone”. When you’re in the zone, the stress or trauma of your daily life seems to dissolve.

4. The adrenaline rush of surfing can recreate the novelty that is often missing and get squelched by the ho-hum aspects of daily civilian life.

5. Lastly, the physical exertion from a day of surfing is exhausting and literally wipes you out so that you sleep better at night. Insomnia is one of the most insidious aspects of PTSD. Surfing is an excellent drug-free sleep aid.

02 Yoga and Mindfulness/Interoception

In our view, and in the view of many, the body needs to be part of the treatment process. We have to actively and purposefully engage the body and learn how to 'intercept' if we are to recover from trauma.

Interoception is our capacity to feel and sense our body’s experience. It’s our sense of the physiological condition or environment of the body, e.g., our perception of sensation and muscle dynamics. In the words of functional neuroanatomist A. D. Craig, interoception is our experience of our “sentient self.”

Because of advances in neuroimaging, we now know that particular parts of the brain which are involved in interoception are under-active in traumatized people. At Resurface we hope to start reactivating these interoceptive pathways.

03 Daily EMDR sessions

Each day you will have the opportunity to work through any issues that are blocking your potential to thrive and flourish. Unlike most other psychotherapies, EMDR has the capacity to work every day and means that we can make a significant impact in such a short amount of time. Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy is an evidence-based psychotherapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), psychological trauma and other mental health conditions. It has also been shown to be highly efficacious in enhancing, and removing blocks to, peak performance.

04 Rest Day - Surf, Food and Culture

As well as making delving deep into yourselves and learning new therapeutic skills, we hope that you will enjoy tasting much of Moroccan culture. On the mid-week rest day we take a trip up the coast to the fishing village of Imsouane, where there is the option of surfing a world class long-board wave and eating delicious grilled fish for lunch. On the way we see some of the most famous Moroccan waves (Boilers, Dracula, Tamri) as well as the Bedouin caves and the illustrious ninja goats.

05 Evidence-based - Significant Decreases in Anxiety and Depression

At Resurface we believe that all our therapeutic interventions must be evidence-based and proven to work.

Evidence-based practice is fundamental to our ethos at Resurface, therefore we recruited an independent researcher to carry out an analysis of a recent retreat in Morocco. This intervention study was conducted to investigate whether taking part in a Resurface retreat is associated with improvements in mental health.

Our key research question was to investigate whether there were significant differences in anxiety, depression and changes in outlook following trauma between pre-retreat and post-retreat. Our findings were that attending a retreat often leads to significant reductions in anxiety and depression with a concurrent significant increase in outlook on life.

06 HRV Training

HRV biofeedback is a non-invasive intervention that utilizes operant conditioning principles to help individuals actively regulate their autonomic arousal. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is a phenomenon that demonstrates the flexibility and health of the nervous system and is measured by the time interval between heart beats. The more flexible the cardiac and nervous systems are, the larger the variability between heart beats is and the more adaptive the body is to change.

HRV Biofeedback uses sensors on the fingertip or earlobe to measure HRV and displays this information using visual and auditory cues. By seeing and hearing information about a physiological phenomenon such as HRV, an individual can actually learn to make changes in their cardiac function, therefore strengthening their nervous systems.

This mechanism of action is similar to other forms of learning: the more the brain is rewarded, through visual and auditory information about the body, the more flexible and regulated the nervous system becomes. Through repetition of this training, the body can learn to increase heart rate variability and over time improve the overall health of the nervous system. Research shows that HRV training can be helpful in reducing symptoms of PTSD and depression, among other conditions.