At the beginning of September had the pleasure and absolute joy of joining a group of awesome people, all with metastatic cancer, on a SeaChange Retreat in Newquay.
Surfing is something I have always wanted to try and is on my ‘Life List‘ and so when a space became available on the retreat, and it just so happened to be when I was already in Cornwall at the boat, it seemed like fate, and so I jumped at my chance to give it a go.
The retreats aren’t just surfing though, there is also yoga, dance, wild swimming and a chance to talk to other people who are living with mets.
I can’t lie to you and say that I enjoyed surfing. I am sure people will crucify me for that – being a sea lover and also a snowboarder – I feel like there is some law that says I should enjoy surfing too. But I just found it really stressful – there were so many people int he water and I was worried about the fact I’d take someone out. Being an out of control learner really wasn’t for me when it was so busy!
But I am so so happy that I gave it a go, and maybe it’s not something that I can learn to do in a couple of hours – so if the chance to give it another go come up, I won’t say no. But for now, surfing won’t be my go to sport!
But like I said, it wasn’t just surfing. There were 4 of us with some type of incurable cancer. I was so happy when I realised it wasn’t all breast cancer patients – it can be so great to get another POV of the world of metastatic patients. And we were made up of 2 women and 2 men, which gave everything another perspective too.
We had a couple of opportunities to talk, in both a few counselling settings and over dinner too. Honestly – it was so helpful to be able to just talk about what ever you needed to, without any judgement – but also getting so many varying opinions – was so so refreshing.
And, it wasn’t just surfing. We did some Yoga, and some interpretive dance – which was the most nerve wracking moment of the whole weekend. But oddly, once you get over the fact you’re just flinging yourself about to music in a room full of people you don’t really know it’s really freeing.
And then we went wild swimming in the Newquay sea off Towan beach. In wesuits we swam past the harbour, and along the headland, looking below for signs of sea life, and swimming into the mouths of caves to hear the mating calls of seals.
Swimming is something I love so much, and I have swum in the sea a lot in my life – jumping on and off boats – but I cancelled my swim membership when I started chemo as I couldn’t swim through it, and so my swim sessions have been few and far between in the last few years.
I even learnt that there are wild swim floats that will hold a full bottle of wine in their drybag area, which is apparently really useful 😉
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If you are living with – or have had cancer – please check out the Seachange website and follow them on social media (insta and FB) to get details of any cancellation spots on their upcoming retreats if everything is sold out!