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

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