I was floating around on my surfboard the other day, waiting for a nice shaped wave to come rolling in.

It is the middle of winter here is Tasmania, and the seawater temperature has dropped to 6 degrees celsius. As I get older the decision to go for a surf this time of year has become more challenging than routine. And yet I go, and I have fun, heaps of fun.

I have now been an active surfer for 40 years.

Every time I go for a surf it is a noticeably different experience for me.

How could this be so? I’m doing fairly similar things each time I surf, and often I am surfing in the same place, and yet it is always so different, and it is always fun. Even when I have got cold, or very scared, or have been hassled by unfriendly types sharing the water, it has still been fun.

Sometimes I don’t really expect to have a good time, and I still do, there has always been something in it for me.  I find this astonishing.

And the other thing I love about surfing is sharing the times in the water with others who love it too. Two peak experiences that really stick in my mind are catching big, fast, long, beautifully shaped and powerful waves, and happily sharing the ride on a wave with another, even if I do not know them.

The morning surf check, touched by promise and excitement.

Counsellor Hobart Tasmania. Counselling Hobart Tasmania.  Psychotherapist Hobart Tasmania. Psychotherapy Hobart Tasmania. Therapist Hobart Tasmania. Counselling outdoors. Bush adventure therapy. Somatic psychotherapy. Psychology. Life skills. Coaching. Walk and talk. Psychodynamic. Mindfulness.

To talk about counselling/therapy options, and to make an appointment, please call me.

Nick Hall – 0459413198 – 9am to 5pm – Monday to Wednesday.

Hobart, Tasmania.

 

 

A couple of weeks ago we were out in the Nick Hall Adventure Therapy boat looking for a group of humpback whales that had been sighted in Frederick Henry Bay, near Hobart. And we found them. At one moment we had seven whales about our small boat. They were excited to see us, and clearly curious. We were very excited to be there in their presence.

At the peak of this experience two of the whales swam straight toward our boat, diving under at the very last moment, passing less than three meters underneath us. I was struck by the feeling of the pure wildness of the encounter. Here were wild whales, whales that most likely had never seen humans before. It was truly intense for all of us, and I wondered how it was for them.

In my experience there is considerable benefit in this type of exposure to pure wildness. This is an intrinsic part of an adventure therapy experience. This type of counselling in the outdoors, surrounded by wild landscape, and wild animals, is quantitatively and qualitatively different.

Counsellor Hobart Tasmania. Counselling Hobart Tasmania.  Psychotherapist Hobart Tasmania. Psychotherapy Hobart Tasmania. Therapist Hobart Tasmania. Counselling outdoors. Bush adventure therapy. Somatic psychotherapy. Psychology. Life skills. Coaching. Walk and talk. Psychodynamic. Mindfulness.

To talk about counselling/therapy options, and to make an appointment, please call me.

Nick Hall – 0459413198 – 9am to 5pm – Monday to Wednesday.

Hobart, Tasmania.