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Urge surfing
Watch an urge crest and fall without obeying it.
An urge is a wave. It gets stronger, peaks, and eases. You do not have to decide your whole life while it is loud.
Name it in one sentence. Notice where it sits in the body. Set a ten-minute wait: change rooms, drink water, or open a meeting.
When it eases, jot down what helped.
Step by step
Name it
One sentence is enough. You don't have to obey it.
Locate it
Warm, tight, restless? You are noticing, not fixing.
Wait ten minutes
Move, water, a person, or a meeting.
Where this comes from
Urge surfing comes from relapse-prevention research. US psychologist Alan Marlatt described it in the 1980s, and it later became part of Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP), which he developed with colleagues including Sarah Bowen.
Why it can help
Urges tend to rise, peak and ease, like a wave. Watching that happen, instead of fighting the urge or obeying it, can make it easier to wait one out. In a 2009 study of university students who smoked, a short urge-surfing instruction did not make urges weaker, but people smoked fewer cigarettes over the next week. In a 2014 trial, people in MBRP reported fewer days of drug use and less heavy drinking a year later than people in usual aftercare. Results differ from person to person.
For any health concern, talk to your GP or a doctor. HomeCircle is support, not medical care.
