Step 6C: Practice Surfing

The following exercise will help you to develop the skills of surfing the urge. The aim is to replace fighting or fearing the urge with relaxation and curiosity about it. When we become interested in the craving and watch it outside of ourselves—like a few minutes on the beach—cravings change, crest, and subside like waves in the ocean.

Fighting feeds the urge; nonjudgmentally watching it will let it subside and pass. Of course, like any skill, urge surfing requires repetition. Practice initially by yourself when confronted with a minor urge. After you become confident and comfortable with urge surfing, you can apply it to the more intense cravings in the moment they occur.

For example, I began practicing with my small, daily urges to eat sweets in my university department and private practice office. Friendly folks are frequently bringing and sharing cookies, brownies, candy, and cakes. Urge surfing only takes 5 to 10 minutes, once or a couple of times a day. When successful with avoiding these, I graduated to surfing the immense urge to eat breathtaking chocolate desserts after dining in a restaurant.

Take 10 minutes to practice surfing the urge using the steps mentioned in the image below.