The Simple Life: finding purpose beyond injury

Inspiration; where does it come from? Every day there is something that we all personally find inspirational. Often, these inspirations can be strong enough to impact our entire lives.

My name is Natasha Watson and I am the owner and head instructor at The Surf Studio, Edmonton’s original studio to offer the Surfset workout: a low impact but high intensity workout that is done on an unstable surfboard. In other words, it is a fun, challenging and total body workout in one package. If you were to ask me 5 years ago, -even 3 years ago- what I would be doing now, I would never have expected to be where I am today. What brought me here? An injury! But, we will get to that a little later...

Throughout my life I have always been active. At a young age I started competing in Tae Kwon Do, and as if that wasn’t enough, I also danced for many years. Since I was a kid, in my house hold it was always about staying active, releasing your energy in a positive way and building encouraging relationships with, not only yourself; but also, the people who surround you. Did I ever think that those building blocks would lead me to where I am now today? Not a chance, but am I so thankful they did!

I often get asked what lead me to open The Surf Studio. Living in land locked Alberta, have I ever surfed before or did I just really like the Blue Crush movie? Well, the answer is “yes” to both of those. I did really love Kate Bosworth (I would be lying if I didn’t say I wished for two different colored eyes and that I got my hair cut to look like hers.) But, in all honesty, I have always been drawn to the so called surfing life style. The laid back vibes; what seems like this simple life that consists of eating fresh fruit; waking up to rainbows; grabbing your board and going for a surf in the ocean and listening to really good music. Can living simple really be that amazing!? It can! And, I realized that when I spent some time in Hawaii. Oh yeah, and it also helps that I have an uncle who lives in Costa Rica!

When I graduated from High School I knew I wanted to help people; but, I also had the classic concerns wondering if my grades were good enough, did I want to work night shifts, and all of those life questions you have to ask yourself at such a young age when, really most of us do not have a clue what we want to be when we grow up, let alone what we want for dinner! In the end I went into Dental Assisting. I did enjoy it, but it wasn’t my passion. I would wake up in the morning and dread going to work. At the same time I started working out at an all-girls kickboxing gym and found myself being constantly inspired by all the people who I met there, but my biggest inspiration was the owner who in the end pushed me and motivated me to get to where I am today.

Like any dreams, a lot of us do not know how to make them become a reality. It is so easy to just stay with something because we are comfortable and there is always the fear of the unknown, So quite often we put things on the back burner and just continue on with everyday life. My life continued, my dental assisting job continued and also this reoccurring pain in my hip decided to show up. There would be days where I couldn’t walk, couldn’t go to work, couldn’t drive - really anything I did was accompanied with an intense burning pain in my hip. Months went on and in those months I saw numerous specialists who all told me something different in my prognosis. There would be days I would go home and just cry, 23 years old and I could barley move without being in aggravating pain, unable to be active or to even just sit comfortably and no one could figure out why. It was at this time that I heard about the Surfset workout method in a magazine and told myself THIS is my dream job. But with my current body state I wasn’t sure if I would be able to be physically active again or what was going to happen! So just as so many others do, I put my dream on the back burner.

After a year of not being able to be physically active, I got in to see a sports surgeon at the Misericordia Hospital. Prognosis: I needed hip surgery. 24 years old, hip surgery...But I’m only 24! Looking back on it now it was the best thing that could have happened to me. After years of always being involved

in impact sports, finally my body decided enough is enough. May 2014 I left my dental assisting job hoping I would never return to it. Rehabilitation started and so too did my thinking process about where I would go from here. I didn’t know much but I did know that I was not going to engage myself in anything that I truly didn’t want to be apart of. I woke up from a nap and had an epiphany (it might have been the T3s) but at that moment I truly never felt so sure about something in my life. On bed rest, I started the process, beginning by ordering a board, which I used as a big part of my rehabilitation to build up my stabilizer strength around my hip. I was hooked the second I stepped on the board and immediately started my certification process.. People thought I was crazy but I knew in my heart that this is what I was suppose to do.

When people say that when something is suppose to happen it happens and that it will just fall into place, believe it! I started off with a thought, that turned into a dream, that eventually became my reality. I started off not knowing how I would fund my dream, I taught classes outside in a park, which later opened a door to running classes in a local gym, working around their hours and schedule, to now having my own studio and a growing team! There would be times where I didn’t know what the next month would be like. To top it all off, 7 months after my hip surgery I broke my foot! I had hiccups along the way, but in my heart I always knew that if I failed at this dream then it is because I personally didn’t give it my all. When money doesn’t become your main focus but instead you focus on what you are passionate about and finding a way to help make others happy, it’s amazing how everything (including the success) falls in to place.

Life always has set backs, and they’re rough, but they often lead to other open doors and bring out a side of us that we never would have otherwise discovered. If you have a dream, don’t just push it aside. If you have an injury or you feel like you are in a rut, don’t let that bring you down. People fall down and have to rebuild all the time, whether it be emotionally or physically. You are the only one who can start and finish what ever journey you are on, there are amazing people along the way who will support you and if you have a deep enough passion then anything truly is possible. I love my job, I love the people who I have met along the way and I love that my passion makes other people happy. There is a reason the people in those surf movies seem like they are living the good life and it’s because when you really break it down, simplicity is all we need.

Spread your vibes, whatever they may be!

See you on the boards,

Natasha