Surfing and the Senses: Using Body Mapping to Understand the Embodied and Therapeutic Experiences of Young Surfers with Autism

There is a growing body of evidence for the benefits of the use of water-based activities and environments as an alternative or complimentary therapeutic intervention to mainstream, medicalised approaches. Surfing is one such activity with the health benefits of surf therapy linked to the fluid and dynamic nature of surfing and the sea, while learning to surf in a group context can help enhance a sense of belonging and identity through shared experiences in the surf. This paper introduces the ways in which embodied and creative work in nature can empower young people with mental health difficulties, in particular Autism. The study explores embodied experiences and the use of a creative, participatory approach to evaluating a surf therapy intervention. As such, we investigate the usability of a novel participatory evaluation method, body mapping, to evaluate the feelings and emotional wellbeing of young participants in a surf therapy programme. Findings show how body mapping can be used to help create a richer picture of the potential health and wellbeing outcomes from engaging with the sea and highlights surfing as psychosomatic experience. The paper highlights the potential of in-situ embodiment practices and creative methodologies like body mapping to support therapeutic processes, in particular those related to the imagination and emotional body, in a playful and engaging way

Surfing and the Senses: Using Body Mapping to Understand the Embodied and Therapeutic Experiences of Young Surfers with Autism

There is a growing body of evidence for the benefits of the use of water-based activities and environments as an alternative or complimentary therapeutic intervention to mainstream, medicalised approaches. Surfing is one such activity with the health benefits of surf therapy linked to the fluid and dynamic nature of surfing and the sea, while learning to surf in a group context can help enhance a sense of belonging and identity through shared experiences in the surf. This paper introduces the ways in which embodied and creative work in nature can empower young people with mental health difficulties, in particular Autism. The study explores embodied experiences and the use of a creative, participatory approach to evaluating a surf therapy intervention. As such, we investigate the usability of a novel participatory evaluation method, body mapping, to evaluate the feelings and emotional wellbeing of young participants in a surf therapy programme. Findings show how body mapping can be used to help create a richer picture of the potential health and wellbeing outcomes from engaging with the sea and highlights surfing as psychosomatic experience. The paper highlights the potential of in-situ embodiment practices and creative methodologies like body mapping to support therapeutic processes, in particular those related to the imagination and emotional body, in a playful and engaging way

“There Was Some Kind of Energy Coming into My Heart”: Creating Safe Spaces for Sri Lankan Women and Girls to Enjoy the Wellbeing Benefits of the Ocean

Worldwide, there is growing recognition of the wellbeing benefits of accessing and engaging with healthy blue spaces, especially seas, coasts, and beaches. However, vast gender inequalities persist that impact women’s and girls’ ability to safely access these spaces for recreational benefit. This is even more pronounced in the context of emerging surf cultures in regions such as Southeast Asia. Using a qualitative and reflective approach, this paper explored how safe spaces for female surfers are created, using case studies from two female-focused surfing programs in Sri Lanka. To facilitate a safe space, the multi-layered challenges that female surfers face were analysed. The common mediators that enable females to participate in surfing were then investigated and identified, including: seeing surfing as an option, supportive families and communities, the group factor, free lessons, an all-female environment, culturally appropriate surf apparel, and a safe and playful methodology. This study highlights pathways for how unsafe spaces of exclusion and fear may be transformed into safe spaces of inclusion, healing, and empowerment. These findings have implications for how safe spaces may be facilitated for other organisations, as well as the sustainability of female access to surfing, beyond the life of surfing programs

Assessing the social wellbeing of Northern Ireland's fishing society using a three-dimensional approach

The concept of ‘wellbeing’ has received growing interest in policy domains in the UK, and internationally, as a multi-dimensional approach to understanding and measuring social progress and development. Policy makers and scientists alike are debating the potential of wellbeing to deliver a people-centred, and holistic, analysis of what matters to people in terms of the quality of life people pursue and are able to achieve. There is also growing interest in how the concept of wellbeing might be applied to fisheries, especially in terms of deepening assessment of the ways in which decline in the fisheries sector is affecting fishing-dependent families, and the wider community. This paper applies a three-dimensional wellbeing framework and methodology to gain insight into the wellbeing of fishing society in Northern Ireland, a region that has faced substantial decline in its fisheries over the past 100 years. A three-dimensional approach considers material, relational and cognitive dimensions; putting resources, relationships and subjective reflections on life satisfaction together as a whole assessment. All three dimensions are important for a full assessment of wellbeing. Following an overview of the methodology used and data collected, the paper then assesses the extent to which a three-dimensional well-being approach can provide useful insights for sustainable fisheries policy in Northern Ireland

Waving or Drowning: An Exploration of Adaptive Strategies Amongst Fishing Households and Implications for Wellbeing Outcomes

Social adaptation is often touted as a desirable and necessary response to continued decline in the fisheries sector, however little is currently understood about the impacts of adaptive strategies on people's broader sense of ‘wellbeing’, or how the spread of impacts affect people in different ways. This article draws from research in Northern Ireland to explore the types of adaptation strategising that takes place within fishing households, and to specifically address how such strategies interplay with the wellbeing of people affected. We demonstrate some of the hard choices that arise through becoming adaptive, and discuss how the costs of adaptation are sometimes disproportionality born by particular individuals, especially women. We argue that greater consideration of the impacts of adaptation on wellbeing can give useful insights into why some people thrive, whilst others struggle, and can point to opportunities to strengthen both resilient and wellbeing outcomes

Understanding the Dynamics of Green and Blue Spaces for Health and Wellbeing Outcomes in Ireland: A Systemic Stakeholder Perspective

Despite the recognised benefits to human health from green and blue spaces, socioeconomic inequalities in access to and use of such spaces have been observed. Using a multidisciplinary, multistakeholder systems approach and structural equation modelling, this paper examines the structural and behavioural dynamics of green and blue spaces, people and health and wellbeing outcomes. Systems thinking offers a deeper understanding of the dynamics of collective choices at all levels within the determinants and the circular causality of these processes. The resulting map shows that behavioural and structural dynamics of green and blue spaces reinforce social cohesion, mental and physical benefits and their circular causality. Acknowledging the importance of multiple uses of green and blue spaces, this paper concludes that delivering universal services at a scale and intensity proportionate to the degree of need is vital to ensure services and health and wellbeing benefits are available to all, not only the most advantaged

The Ocean Decade-Opportunities for Oceans and Human Health Programs to Contribute to Public Health.

The COVID-19 pandemic reminds us that our health is vulnerable to immediate threats emerging from the ecosystems we inhabit. More insidious global threats include the increasingly overt consequences of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. As the largest connected ecosystem on Earth, the global ocean exerts a greater influence than any other on our climate and weather, affecting global food production and international trade. Much more importantly, human health is intricately linked to “ocean health.”1,2 The United Nations has announced the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development from 2021 to 2030 (http://bit.ly/3kePT9f). Public health and medical professionals should embrace this timely opportunity to transform the way we interact with our seas. We call for a revitalized, inclusive endeavor to repair the damage we have done during our careless past and to protect the myriad benefits available in the future. Making amends will necessitate bringing together ocean researchers, health professionals, coastal communities, policymakers, and other stakeholders to work on delivering a resilient, sustainable ocean that fosters improvements in public health