Author: therealmasonlai

Self proclaimed philosopher, amateur neuroscientist, poet, guitarist, surfer, athlete, student, and constant learner.

Santa Claus of the Sea: Rethinking Aging Through Surf Therapy

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One morning during a quiet surf session, one man stood out from the rest. He had a long, white, Gandalf-esque beard that dripped with seawater. Despite being more than 65 years old, he took waves with a grace that could only be mastered with years of his craft. And from that moment on, he was known to me as the legendary Santa Claus of the Sea.

He was graceful. But this image stands in stark contrast to the current dominant narrative of aging.

The Reality of Aging: Physical and Psychological Ailments

Many health professionals are familiar with the list of common aging-related challenges, including:

  • Sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss)
  • Impaired balance and proprioception
  • Increased risk of falls and fractures
  • Joint degeneration
  • Reduced cardiovascular endurance

Alongside these physiological changes, we see a rise in mental health challenges:

  • Social isolation
  • Depression
  • Loss of autonomy and identity
  • Cognitive decline

These factors compound each other. For example, a loss of balance leads to a fall, which results in injury, which leads to hospitalization, immobility, and sometimes institutionalization, which all accelerate decline.

Modern rehabilitation techniques try to interrupt this cycle, but traditional therapy methods, particularly in geriatric care, often rely on repetitive, low-engagement exercises: resistance bands, parallel bars, leg lifts in clinics. These are essential in many cases, but they’re not enough. My grandma was prescribed chair exercises, but I want her to be able to strengthen herself in practical ways.

Adherence is a chronic challenge. Motivation wanes. And much too often, patients disengage.

So what if we reframed therapy? What if we made it joyful?

Surf and Ocean Therapy: Reconnecting Mind, Body, and Environment

Surf therapy is a movement-based, nature-integrated intervention that merges physical rehabilitation with emotional renewal.

It may sound radical, even niche, but it can gain traction for good reason.

Surfing involves:

  • Dynamic balance — reacting to ever-changing surfaces
  • Core and limb strength — paddling, popping up, stabilizing
  • Coordination and reaction time — reading waves, adjusting positions
  • Cardiovascular exertion
  • Mental presence — engaging with unpredictability in real time

All of this takes place in a natural environment that stimulates the senses and evokes meaning: the ocean. The ocean is something that soothes the mind, the beach a bonding place for communities, and the water something that reminds people — especially older adults — that they are still capable and evolving.

Evidence Supporting Surf Therapy for Older Adults

Though still an emerging field, several pilot programs and studies are showing promising results — not only for youth and veterans, but also for older adults and people living with chronic conditions.

A few key findings:

  • Balance & Mobility: A 2019 study on ocean-based activities for older adults found significant improvements in static and dynamic balance over 12 weeks. Gains persisted at a 3-month follow-up.
  • Mood & Depression: Programs like Waves for Change and Ocean Therapy for Veterans report measurable decreases in depression and anxiety after just 4–6 weeks of sessions.
  • Social Connection: Group surf sessions foster community — essential for reducing isolation, a major risk factor for early mortality.
  • Self-Efficacy: Participants describe a new identity: not as “patients,” but as athletes, learners, or adventurers.

In this way, movement that is meaningful is more sustainable than movement that is merely prescribed.

“But Is It Safe?” — Managing Risks with Realism and Responsibility

“Isn’t surfing dangerous for older adults?”

Yes — and no.

All physical activity carries some level of risk. But so does inactivity.

In fact, sedentarism is one of the most dangerous behaviors for aging adults, associated with:

  • Heart disease and stroke
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Depression
  • Cognitive decline
  • Frailty and loss of independence

Surf therapy programs reduce risk by including:

  • Soft-top boards and padded equipment
  • Shallow-water options and beach-based sessions
  • Certified adaptive surf instructors
  • Physical therapists on-site or in collaboration
  • Buoyancy aids and wetsuits
  • Environmental checks (tides, weather, currents)
  • Gradual progression, from tide pool to open ocean

Most participants start slowly: learning to float, sit on the board, or wade safely. Athleticism isn’t required. Just reconnecting with movement, shedding fear of it, and being open to growing from unfamiliar experiences.

Surf therapy doesn’t replace traditional rehab. It complements it by giving people a reason to get stronger. And even if it’s not surfing specifically, being outside and in the elements is the reward in it of itself.

Beyond the Clinic: Reimagining Geriatric Therapy

The big idea is this:

Therapy doesn’t have to feel like therapy.

It can feel like joy. Like renewal. Like living again.

Healthy movement shouldn’t be limited to lifelong athletes. The myth that older adults are fragile, disinterested, or unwilling is just that — a myth.

The Santa Claus of the Sea isn’t just a surfer. He’s a living contradiction to our ageist expectations.

So understanding that movement if life at any age, we must devise better plans for maintaining movement in seniors. And we can start by inviting more of our elders into the water.

Parallel Resources

Procrastination for Dummies, by a Dummy

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Daily writing prompt
Which topics would you like to be more informed about?
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Do you find yourself unable to focus on things that matter?
Tasks that you know, without a doubt, will benefit your life. Things you’ve promised yourself you’d do, goals that could reshape your future… Yet, somehow, you don’t do them.

I do.

And I’ve tried to understand why.
I’ve dipped into the science of focus, from the neurological mechanisms that help us stay on task to the conditions needed for deep, uninterrupted work. But the deeper I dig, the more confused I become. The research contains contradictions, and what the media says about focus rarely aligns with what actual cognitive scientists are discovering.

And with the rise of self-improvement culture, a mythology has formed around the idea of discipline. We’re told that successful people are just more focused, more motivated, more driven. And if we’re not like them, the implication is that we’re simply not trying hard enough.

But that’s as far from the truth as you can get.

I’m not an expert (though I’d like to become one), but here’s the clearest conclusion I’ve come to:
The problem isn’t a lack of effort. It’s a lack of systems.
It’s not that you’re unwilling to do the work that needs to be done. It’s just that your environment, your habits, and the mental scaffolding you’ve built around your day-to-day life aren’t optimized to support focus.

Everything in nature requires activation energy (hi, chemistry class)—a certain threshold that must be met before a reaction can occur. The same applies to our behavior. Starting something hard, like studying, exercising, or writing, takes far more energy than continuing once you’ve begun. That beginning stage is the hardest part. And modern life is constantly raising the cost of starting.

Unfortunately, every time we reach for our phones, scroll social media, or binge a few episodes of something “harmless,” we’re not just wasting time, we’re retraining our brains (and I, more than anyone, wish this wasn’t true). We’re conditioning it to seek high-reward, low-effort stimulation. And the more we feed it, the more it resists anything else.

And that’s what’s scary. We think that these things are just distractions, but those early hits of false stimuli are actually inoculations that blunt our ability to focus later. They raise our brain’s threshold for engagement. So when we finally try to sit down and do the important stuff (stuff that takes time, patience, and effort) our mind rejects it. Not because we’re lazy, not because we’re unmotivated, but because we’ve already taught our brain what to crave.

Small actions have big outcomes. That innocent scroll in the morning may seem like nothing, but it creates ripples throughout your entire day. By the afternoon, your ability to focus has been quietly, but significantly, eroded. And no amount of “trying harder” can change that, because by then, the system is already working against you.

A life without music

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Daily writing prompt
What would your life be like without music?
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Last week, I stopped listening to music in the car. Then I cut it out when I was studying. Eventually, I stopped listening altogether.

Not because I’m insane, but because I wanted to run a little experiment. I wondered how my mind would fill the silence. Could I sit without a soundtrack to my life? Could I stand the stillness? I’ve always used music as background as something to keep my thoughts company, to fill the time in between main acts.

Sitting alone in a mental room with nothing but my own thoughts, a new kind of music emerged. The birds outside my window sang louder than I ever remembered, chirping their little hearts out. I felt the hum of the motor each morning, the whoosh of air as I accelerated down empty roads. Walking, I heard the rustling of trees above and the crunch of my feet on leaves.

It’s strange to realize that there are so many little things that we fail to notice simply because we’ve become so accustomed to them. But by leaving my Airpods at home and turning off the radio, I found joy in noticing.

Now, I still enjoy listening to music. I still sing like a maniac alone in my car. But it’s comforting to know that these small sounds are always waiting for me to appreciate. Waiting for attention. Waiting for you to open your ears and let the music flow in.

It was always there.

I just wasn’t listening.

if i am with you

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days fold inward upon each other,

imploding yet exploding; incomplete and fragmented.

seen but not felt;

whirling,

raging,

but – if i am with you,

sunlight slips through the trees

and leads the dance of silhouettes across the soil.

it is golden –

like you

and your voice

uprooting doubt,

silencing the muttering leaves above.

the soul speaks

a thousand words –

yet the voice captures so little

while the rest are lost

to infinity.

even so,

i feel you;

your ebb and flow.

but when the wind dies

and the trees are still,

the last echoes of eden fade

to shadow.

the sun sets

ever so softly;

rainbow ink

spilling upward into the heavens.

cue the obsidian drapes falling over the canvas,

as lofty ideals

subside to cold repose

but the light has not left yet.

with you,

the soft pinholes in the sky open up

and the stars sigh.

It’s that simple.

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Daily writing prompt
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
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I can start with the biggest lie I’ve ever been told.

“It’s not that simple.”

I believed it. Whenever I told my peers I wanted to start something new – do better in class, start writing poetry, pick up boxing, start learning guitar – the one phrase that always cut through was:

“It’s not that simple.”

But today, I want to tell you something different.

The best piece of advice I have ever received is this:

It’s always that simple.

I love to overcomplicate things. I bet you do, too. We create mental barriers as excuses to validate our inability to accomplish our goals. We tell ourselves that it’s complicated, our timing’s off, or we’re not ready. But in reality, they’re excuses disguised as logic. Sometimes, we even adapt to our inability to adapt, and in doing so, we stay stuck in places we don’t want to be.

But being stuck is not a failure. It’s a starting point. And you can choose where you want to go from there.

Because it really is that simple.

Yes, doing things you’re not used to is scary. Heck, it scares me, and it probably scares everyone.

The consistent discipline it takes to accomplish your greatest desires, to ascend, to have the authority to dream big – that’s difficult. But when it comes down to knowing what needs to be done, your brain will always know.

The first step, the next step, the final step – it’s all one, and it’s always within you.

You don’t need a hundred tutorials. You don’t need motivational videos on loop. You don’t need anyone to give you permission.

Everything you need is already there.

Yes, it’s going to be hard, and you’ll have to give more than you’ve ever given before.

But just remember:

It’s still that simple.

And that’s what makes it possible.

unapologetically

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Daily writing prompt
What’s your favorite word?
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College applications are everywhere right now – on my screen, in my thoughts, and on every advice blog screaming ‘be yourself’.

I’ll avoid sounding cliche, as I might when I try to describe the various elements associated with words like these. Overused phrases can dilute the weight of what I actually want to say, and if there’s anything I want to avoid, it’s echoing the ideas of others.

So let’s start from the foundation. Unapologetic. Not a good trait in most cases. I don’t think anyone would want to meet an unapologetic person. (Unless you’re into that sort of arrogant entitled type of thing.)

But take unapologetic and add ‘-ally’. Now, we approach the core identity of what I love about it. Unapologetically. This carries intention and a refusal to bend without good reason to.

In the midst of college applications, the internet has plenty of advice on what good college essays look like. “Be genuine!” “Be unique!” “Tell a story only you can tell.” But these phrases have been repeated so often that they’ve lost their shape.

So instead? I remember to be unapologetically myself.

Maybe this first post is a promise. To you, and to me. I will write unapologetically. I won’t tailor my thoughts to fit an imaginary audience, or force clarity where confusion deserves to exist. To me, this journey through applications is a lesson to remain grounded in my sense of self. And that it’s okay not to know what that necessarily means.

This platform is a chance for me to flesh out my ideas and take refuge from my short-form-media-infested life. Here, I won’t be cut off after 60 seconds or get drowned out by algorithm-driven noise. Here, I can just think. Breathe. Write.

And for now, maybe that’s enough.

To begin, unapologetically.