Native Like Water program uses surf therapy to heal mind, body

Youth participants from the Pauma La Jolla and Viejas reservations for a Native Like Water InterTribal Youth venture Photo courtesy of Native Like Water LA JOLLA For Indigenous communities water can be a healing force and Native Like Water is harnessing that power and sharing it during its youth camp On Thursday Native Like Water s InterTribal Youth summer camp effort kicked off at UC San Diego The participants ages - will stay in the UC San Diego dorms exploring the coast and all it has to offer throughout the six-day experience Surfing rock climbing hiking yoga art and science lab exploration are just several of the programs included in the scheme s itinerary Focusing on medical prevention state science and using food as medicine the operation explores coastal traditions and native foods from a holistic approach For Marc Chavez the founder and undertaking director it s all about reconnecting with coastal values and healing through water When Chavez first started the nonprofit it was to increase the rates of Native youth going to college He realized two things One not everyone wants or requirements to go to college and that s okay And two there was a lack of connection to Indigenous coastal cultural practices He located a way to make everything meet in the middle You re having a bunch of things intersect at the same time You re having instruction intersect you re having cultural intersection and you re having this contentment intersection because it s fun he stated Chavez broadened Native Like Water to provide more recreational exercises that better engaged the youth while also educating them on cultural practices And for those wanting a taste of the college experience there s the InterTribal Youth camp where students stay in the dorms allowing them to test out living away from home One of the water engagements is surf therapy According to the International Surf Therapy Organization surf therapy promotes psychological physical and psychosocial well-being through surfing What takes place when you re with Mother Ocean in the surfing it s like it does all the heavy lifting Chavez commented Even though the activity incorporated surfing it wasn t quite as heavy on the activity in the beginning After years of the project and feedback from its participants Chavez ramped up the time spent on the surfboards Surfing is an indigenous practice So when we talk about coastal tradition we re talking about recreation he declared The Kumeyaay and Luise o tribes were forcibly removed from their coastal communities and aspects of their coastal custom were lost For Native Like Water to undertake a revival of way of life the nonprofit had to lean on Indigenous people and practices from Hawaii Chavez says not everything can be learned locally There s a mutual resonance that s happening across not just here in San Diego but across the world that whether we know it or not we re feeding off of that resource Chavez commented That resonance stretches across age groups as well Naturally the tweens and teens flock to others their age and participate in sessions appropriate for their age groups But in the water they re all kids including their mentors At the end of our life and middle of our life and the beginning of our life our gurus teach us that we re all just a child Chavez revealed We are children of our parents or children of the earth and inside of us that spirit that soul is a young happy child