Female surfers looking to find their peak performance, need to look beyond find the perfect wave.
They need to sync their wave-riding with their menstrual cycle.
That's dialogue Tofino-based surfer Kate Lightstone has been wanting to kick-start with women in the ocean for several years.
鈥淚 want people to ask questions. I want people to come with curiosity, confusion, frustration. I want them to feel like this is a place where they can get some of those questions answered and that we can come to a common ground so that everyone feels like they鈥檙e up to speed and on the same page and empowered.鈥�
Lightstone recently hosted a workshop on how to understand how your cycle works and how to sync the rises and dips of energy that come with your cycle, with your surf progression and surf training.
Lightstone is a former competitive athlete with an educational background in nutrition and embodiment. She moved to the West Coast from Nova Scotia in 2016.
鈥淚鈥檝e been a surfer for over 11 years and I couldn鈥檛 figure out why sometimes I had great sessions and why sometimes they sucked and why I wasn鈥檛 progressing the way that I wanted to, but I was only following men. I was only using men as examples鈥 was so frustrated at my lack of progression because I was just watching the boys surf and I couldn鈥檛 figure out why I wasn鈥檛 progressing in the same way that they were. We have to stop trying to compare ourselves to guys,鈥� she said.
鈥淚 wanted to just get a clearer picture of what鈥檚 actually going on with our bodies throughout the month and how I could use that to elevate my own surfing progression and make myself a stronger surfer and it鈥檚 worked. I鈥檝e been cycle-syncing for three years and I also do it with my business. I book meetings at a certain time and I book backend stuff at a certain time, depending on what week of my cycle I鈥檓 in and it works really well, so I just wanted to bring the information that I鈥檝e learned to the rest of the surf community.鈥�
She added that while cycle-syncing is gaining traction among female entrepreneurs, she has not seen it associated with surfing yet and believes it could bring positive benefits.
鈥淚鈥檝e never seen it connected to surfing, but it is more commonly connected with female entrepreneurs and that鈥檚 where I got the idea from. I run my own business and I have had various cycles of burnout with my business and I鈥檝e had to learn how to make my cycle and my business work for me. Because I鈥檝e surfed for so long and because I have a background in athletics, I knew I could apply this same concept to surfing and I think it will make a big difference in other women's lives. I鈥檝e been doing it for myself and it makes a huge difference,鈥� she said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about empowering ourselves to use our strength. There are certain times of the month where we鈥檙e going to be stronger, we鈥檙e going to be more powerful, we鈥檙e going to feel more confident about surfing in different conditions and there鈥檚 going to be times of the month where it鈥檚 going to make more sense for our bodies to change our craft, to do something like longboarding or to connect to the ocean as medicine instead of a sport.鈥�
She added she hopes to see cycle-syncing become a more prominent topic moving forward.
鈥淎ll humans come from women, so not knowing a lot about the cycle I feel puts us at a big deficit'" she said. "We鈥檙e so connected to the earth and her cycles that I just feel like it would be a huge step towards healing for everybody if this was something that was talked about more commonly."
She suggested barriers around the stigmas associated with menstruation are beginning to be broken down, but more conversations are needed.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to be into surfing at all, you just need to be interested in knowing more,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e want women to have a positive relationship with their cycles. This is an empowering thing. It鈥檚 not something that should be shamey or inconvenient. We often hear people say, 鈥業t鈥檚 so inconvenient to have your cycle.鈥� It鈥檚 actually such a powerful time and every aspect of the month has got something different to offer.鈥�
