This article was written by the author of Waves of Healing ~ Cash Lambert for Surfline in 2019 about the first-ever symposium dedicated to surf therapy research. World-renowned surf photographer Aaron Chang was a keynote speaker and had this to say; “I think this can permeate through the medical world, throughout industries, and this can be the start of a whole new awareness…it feels good to be in the water. We can’t explain it. We feel better every time we go in the water. I think these people have the academic training and skillsets to give that feeling a definition and deploy it where it can help a lot of people.” Wallace J. Nicols, Keynote Speaker, author of Blue Mind, stated, “I think in the room you got researchers, organizations, non-profits, pro surfers, some sponsors…It’s all the ingredients you need to take this to the next level. The distinguishing factor is the heart. People who love the ocean because it saved their life are unstoppable. You can build barriers and walls, unfund them…but you can’t stop them. That’s what you feel. You don’t feel that at every conference.”
