Wilding Fifty: Surf Tales
Wilding Fifty: Surf Tales
Bold and Humble with Kim Novak
In this episode with Kim Novak, we discuss how working at a surf retreat in Indonesia challenged her to be quick and bold with her surfing, how she learned to catch shorebreak waves and bigger waves, her transition from long boarding to short boarding, her work as a Reiki practitioner, and why she follows the Ayurvedic lifestyle. For all of you beginner’s out there, Kim will inspire you to get serious with your surfing.
Highlights:
[00:00] Surfing Bigger and Bolder
[04:29] From Longboarding to Shortboarding
[13:45] The Energy Fields of Reiki
[20:49] An Ayurvedic Lifestyle
[29:37] Our Surf Session
[39:28] From Barista to Surfer
Quotes by Kim:
"I noticed that when I'm getting egotistical in the water, I'm like, oh, I caught so many waves just now. I'm pretty good! I get slammed. She's just like, boom. No, you're not. Stop that. She immediately humbles me. There is a connection there."
"While traveling, I met many world traveling surfers and they all had short boards. It's much more dynamic. It's in your car. It's easier to carry. There's so many stairs in Bali. You don't want this heavy right 9’ 3” board with you when you're navigating down windy steps. There are many perks to shortboarding and I feel very called to it. It's hard. It's really scary and it's challenging, but that's growth, right? You're never gonna get better unless you fail a lot."
"We have our physical bodies, but our energy fields expand about six or seven feet. We're in each other's energy fields right now. If I am practicing Reiki on you, I need to be kind of three to four inches above your body to really feel and concentrate too and activating the symbols to be able to read your energy."
Get in touch with Kim or schedule a Reiki session:
- Instagram @kimnovakk
Connect:
Christine: Hi Kim.
Kim: Hello.
Christine: Welcome to the podcast, and thanks for taking me out in the water
the other day.
Kim: You're welcome. I'm happy to be here.
Christine: Let's begin with those recent longer trips that you took to Costa Rica and Bali or Indonesia somewhere. Could you talk about where you went? You were there to teach yoga, but then you al were at surf retreats. Tell us a little bit about those experiences.
Kim: It was actually back in February. I left the first week of February to Costa Rica for two weeks, and then I was in Nicaragua for six weeks working at a surf retreat. I was helping out with teaching yoga, but al with their marketing program. I was working, it was like split kind of 50 50. And then after that I realized that I didn't have as much opportunity to teach yoga as I wanted to. The position that I landed turned out to be more marketing heavy, and I just wanted more opportunities to grow as a teacher. I ended up going to Indonesia, an island called Sumba for another six weeks. And then I was in Bali for three weeks. That was another surf treat. It was epic. It was beautiful. But both experiences, everywhere that I traveled, helped me grow not only as as a teacher, but al as a surfer. The waves in Central America are much different than they are here, and same with Indonesia, each challenging in their own ways. it definitely, I noticed a big shift in the way that I surf after coming back from traveling for sure.
Christine: Can you explain that more? how are the waves different?
Kim: In Costa Rica and Nicaragua, at least the places that I was going to, which I didn't travel too much within the two countries. In Costa Rica we traveled around a little bit more, but Nicaragua was just in like the Playa Gigante region. It's pretty much a shore break. That's all I pretty much experienced the whole time, which means the wave is breaking on the shore. The waves I'm used to surfing here in Southern California, you're paddling out a good, fair amount and then catching the waves in. The steepness of those waves and how quick you had to be to stand up definitely challenged me and made me have to be quick and bold, my surfing style and just the way I thought about surfing. And then in Indonesia there was a far paddle out, which I prefer, which was nice. But the wave out front at the surf retreat was the most powerful wave I've probably ever experienced. Most days it was overhead or double overhead, and I went out every time because it was a point break, which means you can sit next to it and you’re in the break, or you can choose to go in and try to catch something. But there were a few times where I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and I'm getting pummeled by this giant wave. And although in the moment it was really scary, now, when I surf Southern California, I don't think, I don't know if I'll, I mean, I'm sure I'll experience something that powerful again, but it's made me really resilient. And it's made me have the confidence to see a big wave and be like, I will survive this. I survived Indonesia. I was catching those big waves, I can do this.
Christine: Going back to the shore breaking waves in Costa Rica, that terrifies me because I had, a long time ago, a bad accident hitting, doing a face plant. How did you overcome that fear and did you see people getting injured or were there stories of people hitting the shoreline wrong? I mean, it must be that you have to overcome that. Right? Or or get beyond it.
Kim: Yeah. It was really tough for me. It was hard for me to even catch a wave because there was much resistance to that exact fear of going over the falls and hitting my head on the sand, cuz that's what you're looking at right? When you're paddling is just like the ground. That's cool.
Christine: I can't even imagine how that would look.
Kim: It's crazy. But I was going out with the owners of the surf retreat that I was working for and they were able to give me me pointers. Something that really stuck with me was I would be at the point of catching the wave and then I would pull back cuz I would see the drop drop in and I would be intimidated by the drop in and I would pull my weight back and it would pull me out of the wave. And they were like try staying, laying until you feel the wave, catch you, and then stand up. Don't feel like you have to stand up when you're at the top.
Christine: And then you’re angling yourself, is that right? Yes. It's almost kind of like you decide I'm going right, I'm going left, and you try catching that angle, then you're a little bit in a better position.
Kim: Yeah, exactly. You're like kind of paddling alongside the wave as it's breaking. and that tip really allowed me to put my weight into the wave instead of pulling out. And yeah, that's when I started catching waves. I stayed laying down until I was sure that I was in it, and then I stood up and I was on a shorter board too. I typically surf a nine three and I couldn't bring it with me. I was on a seven foot, like mid-length fish, which was another challenge because I wasn't used to that. But yeah, it just made me excited to keep trying different waves and different methods.
Christine: Okay. Then the waves in Indonesia, were you on your nine three or were you on a shorter board there, or what was that like?
Kim: Indonesia, I didn't bring any surfboards. They had a bunch there. I borrowed a longboard from them that was, I think around nine feet, similar to what I was surfing in California. I was catching a lot more waves in Indonesia cause I was like used to the board length but I surf goofy like you. I prefer lefts. And, the wave out front was only a right. It was a point break, massive powerful, right hand point break. And I was like, okay, universe, this is you challenging me. If there's a left, I'm gonna take a left. Like I've always just been in my comfort zone and I felt like I was stepping up to the plate and being asked to surf backside.
Kim: And not only surf backside, but surf the most hollow, powerful wave I've ever surfed. That was a challenge in itself because it was just intense. Every time you caught a wave, you had to be sharp and aware and get up and try not to fall off, because if you do, it's gonna catch you in this crazy whitewash.
Christine: Can you remember the first big wave there that you caught?
Kim: I can, yeah.
Christine: Can you just relive it a little?
Kim: Yeah, it took me a while just to even like try to go for the waves. It was bigger than I've been used to. But yeah, I went out with the whole family, the owners of the property and their kids and they were like, Kim, this is a good one for you, go, go, go. I was like, alright, I'm gonna try like paddling kind of on the shoulder of this wave, and it's still like six feet tall and I'm paddling towards it and I caught it and it was definitely. It was a pretty steep like drop in, but I felt okay. I was going pretty fast and I just saw like the wall of the wave is just right next to me and maybe like a foot or two over my head just to my right.
Christine: Oh my God.
Kim: The wave turns more hollow, just the nature of that wave specifically. It's just more hollow towards the end. That was a little bit tricky too. That's when you would get barreled which I've never done before, but I watched a lot of people get barreled on that wave. Yeah, that gave me the confidence to keep trying. I surfed every day when I was there cuz you wake up and the ocean's right in front of you.
Christine: Wow, I'm inspired by you.
Kim: It was crazy.
Christine: And then now, now that you've been back, do you surf mostly Terramar? Cause Terramar is a little bit more of a gentle beginner's wave, right?Or are you wanting now to go to me of these other bigger, more dynamic breaks?
Kim: Yeah, you caught me at an interesting time. I have for the last year or so been surfing like Terramar, Cardiff. On my long board and just getting used to catching waves. But I recently got a 6’ 5” shortboard that you saw. I had it out with you. That was actually the first day I took it out. And I took it to Mexico this last weekend as well, and I caught a wave on it finally. But I'm learning. I took it to Mexico and then actually the day I got back from Mexico, I took it to the pier. And I learned that I need waves, like the pier offers, like just a little bit steeper, a little bit more push in order to just catch waves easier. I took it to Terramar as well because that's like my spot and a everyone longboards and they sit way deep. They're gonna catch the wave before you do, if you're on a short board. The waves are just really crumbly and it's really challenging to catch a wave on a shortboard. I'm kind of in this point in my surfing journey now where I wanna learn the 6’ 5”.
Kim: There's much more to learn on the longboard. I can try cross stepping or, moving around more on the wave, moving back towards the whitewash and like changing my speed in that way, which I want to do. But while traveling, I met many world traveling surfers and they all had short boards. It's much more dynamic. It's in your car. It's easier to carry. There's many stairs in Bali. You don't want this heavy right 9’ 3” board with you when you're navigating down windy steps, like there's just many perks to shortboarding. And I feel very called to it. Yeah. It's hard. It's really scary and it's challenging, but that's growth, right? You're never gonna get better unless you fail a lot. Right?
Christine: I was thinking about that the day we went out together and you had your shortboard and you were talking about being again in that beginner's mind, right? And surfing does that for you. And I think especially when you're approaching it the way you have where surfing a new location, surfing around the world. Right. Just going for it. If there's a big wave, a shore break. And then now moving on to the shorter board. It's fantastic! Good for you.
Kim: Thank you. Yeah. I think that helps too, giving yourself the variety and trying not like once you feel comfortable at a certain break with a certain board. Trying something different, try a new break, try out a friend's shorter board or longer board. A lot of my friends buy and sell and trade their boards all the time, and they're constantly trying new surfboards and they're the one of the best surfers that I know because they're always like, once they get comfortable, they shift again. That has been in my mind and something that I try to practice too.
Christine: I'm gonna switch gears a little bit here because I just learned that you were a certified Reiki practitioner and I'd love if you could explain what Reiki is and then what your practice looks like.
Kim: Sure. Reiki has been something that was really prominent for me last year. It was just something that I felt very called to try and get certified in. At level one certification, you learn how to do Reiki just on yourself. And then level two you are licensed to practice on other people. And then there's your master, which I have yet to get certified in. That's when you can certify other people to do Reiki. But what Reiki is essentially is a healing source of energy running. You are essentially a vessel as a Reiki practitioner that healing loving source of energy travels through you in through your hands into your client.
Kim: The purpose of a Reiki session, you know, in yoga we talk about the seven chakras. You can feel if someone's chakras are in or out of alignment. The purpose of Reiki is to bring a sense of balance and peace and alignment back into meone's energy centers. And that can go even further, right? In Chinese medicine, your right side is your masculine side, and your left is your feminine. I was doing a session a couple weeks ago. And I was going down the client's right side and I just st started seeing all these visuals of his relationship with his dad and then left side relationship with his mom and his sister. And I got to his left ankle and that was like super dense. There's trauma here. You can feel how much peace or trauma someone has with the masculine and feminine energies. I can feel how scrambled their brains are or how clear their minds are. It's super interesting and I'm still very new as a Reiki practitioner. I had a very strong practice before I left traveling.
Kim: I'm just starting a practice again now that I've been back for a couple of months. But it's interesting hearing what the client experienced, you know, after the session and how similar of experience we have together. Meanwhile, the whole time we're not talking at all. It's really healing. I definitely need to have more of a practice on myself. I typically just have been doing other people as of late. But yeah, it's a way to read energy and just help people find that sense of balance and calm.
Christine: If you are, for example, we're sitting across from one another, can you read my energy or is it more that you would have to be in a position. You are now going to practice Reiki on me, and then you're starting to travel, you know, down my body or whatever you would do. That's the moment when you start to assess?
Kim: The latter, I would say it is very much a ceremony. I have someone lay down either on a mat or a massage table or a bed. They need to get into a meditative state. I guide you through breath work. You have something over your eyes. We use essential oils. Whatever you need to get into that parasympathetic state. I read through this like Reiki prayer. It's like an ancient sacred prayer, sage, all the things. And then I can do the symbols on you and myself and enter into your energy field because it is physical too. We have our physical bodies, but our energy fields expand about like six or seven feet. We're in each other's energy fields right now with Reiki. I need to be kind of three to four inches above your body to really feel and concentrate too and activating the symbols to be able to read your energy.
Christine: Wow that is wild. I wanna study it too.
Kim: Yeah, you should. That is interesting. It's really cool.
Christine: You exude a lot of really neat qualities. I don't know. You've got neat energy and I knew there was much more about you Kim. This is fun to get into it with you. I'm curious, I know you follow an Ayurvedic lifestyle and diet, is there any overlap there or is that all al kind of its own thing or can you weave that in a little bit to this conversation as well?
Kim: Yeah, Ayurveda, it's kind of similar. It's not the same as Reiki, but it goes along the same lines of the Eastern, Chinese medicine. It's been around forever, thousands of years, and I've always trusted Eastern medicine more than like just going straight to the hospital or whatever, to a western trained doctor. My path started when I got my shoulder injury. It's been years, honestly, but I've just started to deal with it like a few months ago. I've just kind of accepted that the pain is there and I need to change something about my lifestyle. And the main belief of Ayurveda is the gut is the center of the universe. If your gut is not healed, you can't heal, period. Even though the injury is in my shoulder and my upper back, my Ayurvedic specialist said, fixing my gut first, my body can support the healing that it needs. And then we're all doing body work sessions every other week, that looks like cupping or acupuncture massage. My fascia is really tense right now. A lot of it is just breaking down the muscle fibers so she can actually get into the injury. And what my lifestyle has changed is there's essentially a list of foods that I'm allowed to eat and foods that I'm not allowed to eat.
Kim: I am only human. I try my best. I'm about 80% following it, and that's kind of what she nodded towards as well. Like her big thing is if you eat something or drink something you're not supposed to, feeling guilty about it is punishing yourself twice because it's already bad for you. And then if you're making yourself feel bad, it's twice as bad.
Christine: You're saying that's like a double arrow.
Kim: Exactly. Just accept that, like that's what you're doing. But I'm on all these herbs that she has made herself and then some of them she's prescribed. I'm already seeing big changes after just, I've been doing it for about a month. I'm a huge believer in Ayurveda. It's really, really interesting.
Christine: Okay, well that's another one. There's much to learn, many ways to grow. Well, let's go to our surf session then the other day. You were nice, as you were saying, let's keep checking the conditions. And I felt already that you were taking care of me. You were like, let's see how the conditions are. And then I said, listen, we're gonna go.
Kim: No matter what, we're gonna go right. Let's just go.
Christine: And, it was a little bit choppy, a little windy, possibly blown out but it turned out to be a perfect day, especially for beginners. And you were encouraging. I really wanna thank you because you just said, you know, don't worry about me. I'm on this new board. But I remember every time I would position myself and you'd be like, it's clear! Go, go, go. It was nice to have you with the encouragement. Terramar is still, I've been going there now quite a lot, but it is kind of a crowded place and I've gotta know that I'm not in anybody's way, but to have kind of somebody there just at least saying, okay, go for it. Cuz you're trying to do many things at the same time when you're catching that wave.
Kim:. Oh my gosh. Yeah. There's many moving parts. And then the week before we went was, it was massive. I was like, we need to make sure that this is a good time. It's not dangerous.
Christine: Yeah. And you said that even though it's choppy, this is good for a beginner. Can you elaborate on that a little bit?
Kim: It just like smaller waves. It was probably like one to two when we went, or two to three.
Christine: think it was two to three, wasn't it?
Kim: Yeah, it was probably two to three. The general vibe of Terramar, especially when it's that small, is there's many people on foam boards and half the people like are new and very forgiving. As the waves grow in size, people start to expect more from you. And if you get in their way, you will get chewed out. I think it's a part of everyone's surfing journey. And there's etiquette videos that I've watched, just to be like, what do I do in this situation? And you learn with experience too, as I'm sure you've been doing. I think you did great.
Christine: Thank you.
Kim: You were catching open face. Wave after wave.
Christine: Well, let me tell you, today, this morning I went out cuz we're having this hurricane weather. And I went out this morning and I caught the wave of my life far. Oh my God, if I'd seen me on video, it'd probably be like this puny little wave. But for me, it was this massive big wave. And I went exactly where you suggested, I lined up off to the left and saw this big wave and it was open and I wasn't in anyone’s way and I paddled for it and I just, I caught it and I rode it all the way. Joyous. And then after, when I was paddling back, there was this flock of pelicans that flew right over me and it was just wonderful.
Kim: Oh my God. I'm happy for you. It's such a magical thing. It is absolutely incredible. Especially because you have to work hard to get to that.
Christine: Yeah, you have to go out many times where you don't catch anything or you just get pummeled or, I mean, after that, nothing else really happened. It was a lot of trying and, you know me paddling back and forth, but I guess that's how it goes. One thing that struck me, I generally surf in the mornings to avoid the sunlight and all that, and you and I went at sunset. It was really beautiful, but it's more difficult to see because when you're looking out on the horizon and then catching the wave, you're actually looking at the sunlight. Yeah. that was one thing that I noticed.
Kim: I would say once it hits like three or four, That's like the worst time. I used to go out all the time during those hours and yeah, you're just looking out and getting blinded, like you have to look away for a little bit, just be like, can I see right now? Sunset. I mean it kind of does stay that way until the sun is like right over the horizon. But there's something about Sunset sessions too that's magical.
Christine: Oh, it was incredible. And then driving away too. I just felt like on top of the world watching the sun set. Let's, let's go back a little bit. You said you were raised in a traditional Slovakian household and you spoke Hungarian and Czech as a child, right. Can you bridge that with you where you are now? Did you ever imagine you would live in California? And surf?
Kim: Honestly, I have wanted to live in California my whole life. Anyone who has known me for a long time, no one was surprised that I moved here cuz I've been talking about it since I was like five. I was al born in Santa Monica, that I think tied me back to California. But I was raised in Jersey. I never thought I would surf. That was never on my mind moving here, but it makes a lot of sense with my, just my childhood and history. My mom was renting a room from my aunt and uncle that's like in my childhood home, and my uncle would take us on these like big family trips to go scuba diving. I was certified in scuba diving at a very young age, like I was like 12 or 13. And we would go like once a year. , I built that connection with the ocean at a very young age. Just the magic of being like 80 feet under and seeing all these fish and the life down there and, and just being like, wow, this place is crazy.
Kim: And the world is, 75% ocean, and we, I wanna connect more with it. Then I was on swim team and I was a lifeguard and water was just always around me. Little did I know competitively swimming was making me, building me up to be a surfer, cuz you need to be a good swimmer to surf. And then having that connection with the ocean at a young age too connected me to have the interest of surfing too. Coming here, it was just natural for me and it was really hard. I didn't feel comfortable surfing for probably the first six months or so, but I stayed with it. It's been about three years and, I want to surf forever. It's the best thing ever.
Christine: Tell us a little bit about your specific history of surfing. You move out to California, and then what happens?
Kim: I moved out here. I moved to Orange County with my childhood friend. I crashed on his couch for like a month and then landed a job as a barista in Oceanside.
Christine: Really? That's why you came to Oceanside?
Kim: Yeah.
Christine: And you got the best place at Revolution Roasters, right? That's coffee for sure.
Kim: Oh, I love it. I was there this morning. Yeah, it's great. I'd been a barista in New Jersey and that's all I knew. I had a marketing degree, but I didn't know how I wanted to use it yet. And I knew I wanted to be in San Diego County. I didn't want to be in LA or Orange County. I wanted to be further south. I was just applying everywhere, like Oceanside and south of Oceanside. I got this job in Revolution, move to Vista, and then Revolution was the start of the surfing journey for sure. I met all these guys and girls, everyone's in their twenties and they're all like, oh yeah, we get off work at one, we're gonna go catch surf. A lot of the customers that came in, they're coming in with bare feet and wet hair and they're talking about the surf, and I was like, wow, this is a really big like surfing community. Who knew?
Kim: Apparently Oceanside is one of the surfing capitals in California. There's tons of competitions here every year. And the pier especially is the spot, you know, it's just kind of this like mecca for surfing. I ended up following a couple that I really admire and follow now, Alana Blanchard and Jack Free. They came into Revolution one day. They're both pro surfers, one from Hawaii, one from Australia. I just realized that if I wanted to like bond with people and make friends and be a part of the community, then I should try surfing and it looks really fun. That was definitely what inspired me to start.
Christine: You talked a little bit, but what would you say in the early days were the biggest technical challenges? What wisdom or advice you can impart to the other beginners listening?
Kim: Yeah, the hardest part for me was learning how to pop up. Early on I was taught to like go to my knees first and then like stand up one leg at a time. And that stuck with me for like the first year and a half that I surfed. It was in my head that you go to your knees first but it was impeding the real popup, which is just like laying down to standing, like one fluid motion. I guess, if I were to do it again, I would just immediately learn the fluid popup first. I think practicing out of the water is really helpful too, even on your yoga mat. I notice that when I do it, when I practice my popups on dry land before surfing, it really does make a difference. Surfing's really in your head, it's really mental. I've realized over the years your mindset plays a really big role into how successful you are in a session. Just being mindful of your thoughts, being kind to yourself and staying playful and not getting too in your head like, oh, I suck. Or getting too in your ego is important. I have the best sessions when I just surrender to what is big metaphor for life. I sometimes I have these sayings in the water. I'm like, I am loving awareness or, it's all love, and the ocean feels like a person sometimes, right?,
Christine: Oh, it's it does! I'm glad to hear you say that. Every time it feels like the more and more I go out that it's becoming more and more my friend, and there's days when you go out and it says, come and play with me. Or it just gives you a little slap with the wave here and sometimes a humbling. And the days when I don't go now, I miss it. It's almost like it gives you that cleanse no matter what happens out there. Then you come out, you're like, okay, I'm kind of reborn, right? The ocean gave me another, another way to see the day again.
Kim: Yeah, it absorbs your negative ions. It just completely flushes your aura. Lets you just, like you're saying, that feeling when you walk out, you don't even have to catch any waves, but you're just dipping your head in the water. You're like, I feel like a new person. And I noticed too that when I'm getting egotistical in the water, I'm like, oh, I caught many waves just now. Like I'm pretty good. Like I get slammed. She's just like, boom. No, you're not. Stop that. Like she immediately humbles me. There is a connection there.
Christine: For sure is just like today. I was bragging about my best wave and then after that, nope, nothing else. Yeah, don't get too full of yourself. You get one wave that's it.
Kim: Exactly. She rewards the consistency and the patience and hard work.
Christine: Well, that's a wonderful place to stop. Thank you so much, Kim. This is great. I hope we can go out again, .
Kim: Yes, for sure.
