Meet Our Team – Moliets Yoga Teacher – Wednesday Darling

Staying at our surf camps for your surfing holiday wouldn’t be the same without our daily surf yoga classes and this year, we’re super excited to welcome Star Surf legend Wednesday back to teach at our Moliets Surf Camp.  Wednesday’s classes are sure to be the highlight of any surfing holiday in Moliets, find out here what she’s most looking forward to this season.  

 

How did you first get involved with Star Surf, Wednesday?

Through university.  We had a surf club and I was involved with that.  I’m from Lancashire originally and went to university in Exeter… although I didn’t realise where Exeter was – I thought it was in the Midlands!  I found out it was in Devon and hadn’t been to Cornwall or Devon before, so joined the surf club just to get around.  

Then they did a really good trip to France and I think it was the second year Star had ever run.  I went, and that summer I didn’t have any plans, they needed someone to work and I just ended up working with them, really loved it, and stayed.

 

 

And how did it make you feel working as part of the Star Surf team?

So, the team when I was first there was quite small compared to what I think it is now.  We became a really tight knit bunch, like a little clan.  I think that’s part of what sends you a bit mad when you’re out there, but it’s also what makes it such a special environment.  You’re in this funny space where you’re set apart from everything with this bunch of people and you’re all kind of in such a relaxed state that… I don’t know… I just felt really at home.  It was surprising because I wasn’t the sort of person who’d ever really been camping and if you’d sent to me when I was twenty saying, “you’re going to spend a good chunk of your life in tents”, I would have just said “no way!”

I’ve spent loads of time in the different camps but I think you don’t have to spend that much time there, you just need a good bunch of people and you can really take something away with you.  

You have a place where you can be really open and where you’re all learning new things.  Some people haven’t surfed, or done yoga, it’s just this really exciting time where you’re pushing yourself into new things.  I definitely felt like that when I was there and I still do – I’ve never really quite cracked surfing!

 

So, you got into surfing at uni?  Why would you recommend Star Surf, and the Moliets camp, for beginners?

I think the quality of the surf-teaching is really, really good.  There are a couple of teachers who I really like being in the water with.  Gudi and Chick are really attentive and enjoy teaching, so they give you a lot of feedback, and make it fun which is most important really- it’s so hard that you really, really want to have a good time while you’re doing it.  They’re the sort of people who can teach you really professionally but also make that atmosphere, make that environment in which you might be getting pummeled by the sea, but you’re still having an amazing time.  

 

 

And you’re coming back to the camp this year as a yoga instructor, how did you get into that?

I did a lot of ballet growing up, so I did a bit of yoga and taught ballet and pilates for a while.  I actually didn’t like yoga very much in the beginning, I didn’t see it in the right frame.  It was something I did to stay strong and to stay flexible.  But that summer the camp had an instructor called Lindsay who’s now one of my best friends.  I met her and she really changed my view on it.  Her classes are so fun and she was someone who I thought I’d get on well with and it turns out that I do!  

She created this space where it was so energetic, but so relaxing.  It was like surfing, we were trying new things, playing around with strength and balance, and it was just such a lovely environment that I got a little bit addicted and was going every day, maybe a couple of times a day.  Then she helped me into teaching.

I love working with beginners because I think it’s a really special opportunity.  If someone’s new to yoga they often have different things in their life, they might be into different sports, and I like trying to find a way to come at it from a new, therapeutic angle.  Also, thinking about teaching in a surf-camp naturally made me think about how I could fit yoga in with surfing.  They naturally complement each other so well anyway and the surf-camp makes it easily accessible to everyone.

 

And where did you do your training?

I did my main 200 hours at a studio called Yoga Haven.  They have a few studios around London, in Brighton, although my training was in Morocco.  I’ve also done extra add-ons here and there through lots of different studios.  

I tend to try and do things through studios and teachers that I know.  As yoga becomes increasingly popular I think it’s important to find something that suits your style and personality, so I try learnt from people I’ve worked with a little bit already.  

 

You first came to Star Surf as a student, why do you think it’s particularly good for student trips?

It just lends itself really well to student trips.  You’ve got loads of space, first of all, if it’s a big trip, and it’s just such a fun environment.  The teamers are often really enthusiastic when student trips are there, it’s great value for money because it’s really affordable, you’ve got the sea right there, your accommodation, you don’t need to worry about your meals or anything- you’ve got everything!  

I also feel like the team really step up when it’s the uni groups, they really get involved and there’s always a great environment.  Unis tend to come at the beginning of the summer just as the season’s getting going, so everyone’s got loads of energy and is really invested.  

 

 

And finally, what are you most looking forward to this season?

I’m really excited to have a tent again!  I know it sounds weird but I’m really excited about making myself at home in the tent.  What I find odd about living in London is that you’re inside all the time, whereas if you live in a tent, whatever the weather, you get outside and you’re by the sea.  I’m really excited to get back to that.  Plus, most of the people who are there are my friends, I’m going back to something really familiar.  That sense of familiarity is really comforting.  

Oh, and getting in the sea again!

 

Don’t forget to check out Wednesday’s classes on your next surfing holiday in Moliets to chill out after that sweet surf lesson!  See you on the mat!