We are so proud to announce the sponsorship of up-and-coming Costa Rican surfer girl, Nazareth (“Naza”) Del Mar.
Naza is a 10 year old shredder from Pavones, Costa Rica that has dreams of becoming a professional surfer. The SWA sponsorship offers Naza’s family financial support, giving their daughter a chance to travel to different locations and compete in the national circuit of Costa Rica, while also being professionally coached by SWA instructor, Gabrielle Guyon. With this sponsorship, we hope to inspire girls and women of all ages and nationalities to achieve their surfing dreams and inspire others.
photo by @holalenita
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT NAZA
Nazareth Del Mar Velasquez is the oldest of two girls. Her mother, Sylvia, was born and raised Costa Rica, and her father, Jonathan, is from Nicaragua. Nazareth only started surfing three years ago and participated in her first local competition just a year ago, but her love for the ocean comes from before she was born.
Nazareth was an active baby in the womb, constantly moving and kicking her mom’s belly. Her mom Sylvia found that whenever she entered the ocean, Naza would instantly cease her kicking. Since then, Nazareth has felt attracted to the sea but until recently, was never allowed to enter the water. Jonathan, her dad, has an enormous fear of the ocean and marine life. He doesn’t know how to swim and believed it safest for his family to avoid the sea.
Naza and her family. Photo by @holalenita
During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Naza’s parents lost their jobs. With more and more time spent inside at home, they realized that there is more to life than work. They wanted to enrich their lives, take advantage of every day, and learn to be more open-minded and flexible. Wanting to ensure their kids also learned this valuable lesson, they realized they could no longer keep them out of the water, especially with a perfect left point-break in their backyard. Jonathan began to teach Naza the importance of bravery by overcoming his own fear of the ocean. Three years ago, they started taking surfboards with them into the water and eventually learned to surf together. Nazareth’s love for surfing and sharing the waves with her dad grew daily.
While learning to surf, Nazareth experimented riding both shortboards and longboards, and has come to love both. After only three years, she can already walk to the nose of her longboard, make cute turns with her shortboard, and even ride switch stance, all incredible talents for a young, self-taught surfer! Naza grew up watching Leilani McGonagle and Leon Glatzer surf, two professional surfers and Olympians also from Pavones. She continues to be inspired by them and dreams of having a life like theirs. Nazareth already knows she wants more for her future than her small and remote community can provide. She is different from other village kids, and her parents recognize and support that. When her parents asked if she was ready to put in the hard work to have the life of her dreams, she instantly replied with a big “YES!”
At the moment, Nazareth is one of the only young local girls surfing in Pavones.
Photos by @holalenita
In Latin America, it is uncommon to see girls practicing sports or doing manual labor. Culture dictates that these are activities for men. None of the other young girls from town surf, but Naza’s family thinks outside of cultural/social norms and is very supportive of her following her own path. Despite being the only local girl in the lineup, she claims she doesn’t mind surfing with the boys her age. It has only challenged her to surf more. However, from time to time, the boys aren’t the friendliest to her. They once told Naza she didn’t belong in the water and that she should go back home and stay in the kitchen. Some of the families that Naza goes to school with also don’t approve of her being a surfer. But none of their opinions stop Naza and her family from believing in her dream. Naza’s behavior has even started to inspire other young girls in Pavones to play sports.
Lately, I’ve received a few emails from potential clients who mention that they experience a lingering fear from a past injury. That situation seems to be really common and brought to mind the story of an Amiga that I met back in October in Morocco.
I was in Morocco on day 1 of a Surf With Amigas Holistic Surf Coaching Retreat, just getting to know the guests and starting to form a mental image of each participant, her goals, and how I could be most helpful. The vast majority of our guests use boards from our quiver to avoid having to travel with a board bag but one of the participants, we’ll call her “Sarah”, had brought her own – a Takayama mid-length. I could tell by our chit-chat about the conditions even before we paddled out that she knew how to surf. She presented as strong and confident, walking down the hill to the waist-high peeling rights.
Peeling right point break in Morocco
In the water, she paddled assertively, positioning herself well, taking off with perfect timing, and maneuvering down the line. “She knows how to surf!” I thought, and then told her so as she paddled back out to me. “Ya, I’m fine when the waves are small and easy,” she replied.
A few days later, the swell was small enough that the point break was slow and boring. We made our way around to the more exposed beach break on the other side. The waves still weren’t what I’d call “big”, but they were closer to head high. The peaks popped up and broke more quickly. The wave was soft, breaking over sand, but there was a quickness to it, particularly in comparison to the slow, easy point break waves we had been surfing. I noticed a different energy in Sarah. If she was closer to the peak, she’d pull back and not take off. If she was anything close to being a little late, she’d let the wave go. Having surfed with her for a few days already, I believed she had the skill to take off late and deep and make it, but she was avoiding those situations.
Punchy Beach Break in Morocco
In taking a moment to connect with her and ask about her experience, her story emerged. 20 years ago, she’d been in deep Baja CA, a week into what was meant to be a month-long+ trip. While trying to take off on a wave, she was a bit too late on a steep section. She tried, but didn’t make the drop. She became one with the lip, and in the process landed on her fin, which gouged deep into her thigh. It took a while to get the attention of the people she was with, to get to the relative safety of the beach, only to then endure a long bumpy drive to a very basic clinic and scary health care situation in a remote area. The injury ended her trip. Once back at home and physically healed up, she flung herself back into the ocean.
She didn’t want to let the injury stop her. She didn’t want to appear weak. She tried to forget about it and just keep surfing. That worked…. sort of.
As we drifted outside the surf zone, I quietly listened to her story. It all made sense to me. Her body had suffered a painful trauma. If the injury had happened in CA and she’d received help immediately, including good medical care, and the whole experience hadn’t ruined a long anticipated adventure, it may not have become as heavy of an emotional weight. In her case, the physical memory of painful injury combined with the fear and anxiety of the remoteness of the location and large serving of disappointment due to the altered trip, all combined to serve as a significant trauma.
The coping mechanism often suggested by our society : to “just get over it and get back out there,” worked, in the sense that it didn’t stop her from continuing to surf. However, it didn’t help her process the trauma. Therefore, even 20 years later, she still felt the effects.
My turn to get one!
Sarah initially told her story without much emotion. It was very matter of fact, as if telling a story that had happened to someone else. I listened, asked a few questions to be clear on the details, and then started by validating how scary that must have been at the time. I gave her space and encouragement to sit with the feelings of fear. When given an opportunity to connect to the feelings of the story, instead of just the details, the tears started flowing. She apologized, but I encouraged her to let the feelings happen. It’s ok to not be ok right now.
After the moment passed, I explained that it’s totally normal and understandable that she feels fear when faced with a situation (a steep drop) that triggers her body to remember a time it was injured. By ignoring it or avoiding those situations, she isn’t allowing herself the chance to move past it. We talked about the importance of accepting the fear.
Rather than trying to avoid the fear or feeling shame that it exists, the healing process begins with allowing oneself to feel it.
Her body is trying to keep her safe. That’s a good thing. We took a minute to listen to that message, accept it, and actually thank it for its efforts, allowing whatever emotions arise to flow. I suggested to talk to that fearful part, telling it, “I’m sorry you were hurt so badly. That was a very scary time and your reaction was perfectly justified. Thank you for trying to keep me safe. I appreciate you.”
Once that fearful part has had its chance to fully express whatever needs to be expressed, and those feelings are accepted and appreciated, there’s space for the next step, which is to notice what has changed since then. Since that time, Sarah has been surfing for 20 years. She is a much better surfer than she was back then. She has the skills to make steep drops. If there’s any doubt about that, surf coaching and working on popup technique can help.
Then, start small. On a small wave that’s only a little bit scary, try to pop up late. Notice the feelings that come up. If there’s fear, thank it for what it’s trying to do (keep you safe), but assure that part that you are capable. Come up with a positive mantra that works not to argue with that voice, but to change the script. Little by little, work up to bigger waves and steeper drops, not ignoring fearful feelings, but embracing and accepting them.
Celebrate successes, lean into falls, and smile at the simple pleasures and teachings of the ocean.
In preparing to post this story, I checked in with Sarah to see if she would be ok with me sharing and also to see if the she’d noticed any positive changes in the four months since our sessions. She said,
Yes it did help…. I repeat “all is well” to myself pretty much every time I turn for a wave now. It reminds me I’m ok, that I’m in control, and that it’s supposed to be fun. I think I never gave myself permission to talk about my injury because it maybe seemed trivial and I had no one who would understand it in a more complex way. So yes, it definitely helped. And it’s a process. Even just the permission to address those things in my surfing that hold me back helped so much. I feel like every session since Morocco is accompanied by a memory or conversation from the retreat that empowers me. I’m really glad I went and I look forward to going on another next year. It was an incredible experience and I really appreciate you listening and noticing and being there.
Holly recently completed a Master’s in Counseling and has been incorporating mental and emotional awareness into coaching to create Holistic Surf Coaching retreats. For more info on these specific retreats, click here.
WE’RE BACK AGAIN TO CATCH UP WITH MORE ALUMNI AMIGAS THAT YOU MAY HAVE MET ON YOUR RETREAT!
This month we’re chatting Q&A style with Brandy Flotten, a mother, fitness + nutrition coach, and inspiring amiga- who booked her first SWA retreat in a moment when she needed to focus on self-care most. Brandy has adventured with Amigas at various retreat locations including Nicaragua, Southern Costa Rica, and Northern Costa Rica, even joining us once with her beautiful family!
Over the years we’ve seen her commitment to helping women look and feel great shine through in everything she does- especially in the way that she shows up for herself and for others. We are inspired by the way Brandy discovered surfing as a tool to connect with a new community, boost her confidence, and feel more joy!
STAY TUNED FOR MONTHLY STORIES AND UPDATES FROM OUR GOOD FRIENDS ACROSS THE GLOBE.
Q: Think back to when you attended your first SWA retreat. Why did you book that trip? What was that first retreat experience like for you?
A: I lost myself in my career and parenting years. It wasn’t until my confidence was at it’s all time low that I decided to do something for myself, and I booked my first SWA Trip. I discovered a challenge (a new sport I love), a community of incredibly strong women (not just physically), and most of all JOY. I’m forever a fan ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Q: Now that you’ve been on several SWA retreats, what keeps you coming back?
A: I absolutely love the format of Surf With Amigas, the quality of instruction, the amazingly talented (but oh so fun) coaches, and the type of women that a surf retreat attracts. Each trip just gets better and better!
Q: Describe the feeling you get from surfing…
A: Surfing is much like stepping into a weightlifting gym for the first time. So intimidating and obvious to spot the regulars who know what they are doing. It’s such a humbling and exhilarating sport and I absolutely love the challenge and the thrill of catching a wave on my own.
Q: What are you most passionate about in life right now? The SWA community wants to know!
A: I’m passionate about supporting busy mamas. I coach moms and busy women how to make themselves a priority in their busy lives with practical nutrition.
We’re back again to catch up with more alumni amigas that you may know!
this month we’re chatting Q+A style with mother, surfer, and world traveler danielle gustafson to learn more about the why behind her surf journey + a bit about her personal retreat experiences. Stay tuned for monthly stories and updates from our good friends across the globe.
Q: Think back to when you attended your first SWA retreat. Why did you book that trip? What was that first retreat experience like for you?
A: I’ve been obsessed with surfing for 20 years, but I never committed. I was a white wash wahine. As my kids got older and started shredding, I recognized that I had to learn to surf or lose them to their passion. My main motivation to finally commit was to keep a connection with them. It only made sense to send myself to SWA. That was four and a half years ago. I had no idea it would change the course of my life in the best possible ways.
Q: Now that you’ve been on several SWA retreats, what keeps you coming back?
A: I can’t get enough. Every retreat has been epic. I gift myself at least one a year. Hey, I invest in my kids’ summer camp, tutoring and sports development. Why wouldn’t I offer myself the same level of self-care?
Q: Describe the feeling you get from surfing…
A: Connectedness. Growth. Freedom. Humility.
Q: What are you most passionate about in life right now? The SWA community wants to know!
A: Umm, surfing! My kids, health and career are on the list, too.
Q: What would you tell someone who is about to go on their first SWA retreat?
A: You made the right choice.
Q: Do you have your next surf trip planned? If so, give us all the deets!
A: Yep. Bocas del Toro in January with SWA. Nosara in February. Taking a break to snowboard in March, but back at it with Chicama in April. If I’m lucky and the starts align, I hope to take my kids to Indo this summer.
*WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED LEARNING MORE ABOUT DANIELLE’S JOURNEY IN SURFING AND IN LIFE. STAY TUNED TO MEET ANOTHER INSPIRING AMIGAS NEXT MONTH! IN THE MEANTIME, CHECK OUT OUR MOST RECENT INTERVIEWS WITH KATIE CHOATE & RONI GOLD !
We’re catching up with alumni amigas that you may have met on your retreat!
Stay tuned for more stories and updates from our good friends across the globe.
Q: Think back to when you attended your first SWA retreat. Why did you book that trip? What was that first retreat experience like for you?
A: I grew up in Florida, consistently around water. It has always kept me grounded and makes me feel at home. I learned to surf in college. It became my new passion and joy in my 20’s. I traveled and surfed after college and had the time of my life. While traveling I met my husband. We fell in love and had two boys. My boys changed my life. I became “mom” which was the greatest gift but my priorities were no longer surfing and traveling… life was all about raising them and working. I lost a little bit of who I was during that time and there came a point where I needed to get that back. That’s when I discovered SWA. I was nervous to travel alone again but as soon as I did it I felt alive! The girls at SWA immediately encouraged me to get out in the water. They made me feel comfortable surfing again and it was exhilarating!!
Surfing is like riding a bike in some sense but it can be scary to get back out there after a long hiatus, especially when you are alone. With SWA you are never alone. You always have a crew cheering you on. My soul was on fire again and I felt like I was no longer just “mom”, I was Roni. The girl who loves surfing, music, travel and adventure. The retreat only got better from there…I met some of the most interesting and inspiring women, ate excellent food, did yoga, went lava boarding (a first for me) and much more. The entire retreat was well organized and there was never a dull moment. I felt completely fulfilled when I returned home and could not wait for my next SWA experience!
Q: Now that you’ve been on several SWA retreats, what keeps you coming back?
A: These girls know waves! They know exactly what the tides will be, when to go out and where to go. I don’t even have to think about what board to use. They are so on it! It’s such a comforting feeling going out to a new break and having them guide you to the exact spot to sit to catch the best wave. They also know where it will be less crowded and where not to go. I seriously have the best time surfing with SWA guests and coaches. It’s just all around fun! I also love how they record your waves so you can really see how you surf and actually try to improve your surfing. But…that’s only 1 reason why I keep coming back. There are a million other reasons. : )