Description
Today I sit down with Dr. Easkey Britton, marine social scientist, big wave surfer, author, and one of the most original thinkers I have encountered on the relationship between water, the body, and what it means to be fully alive. Easkey was literally named after a surf break on the wild northwest coast of Ireland, and has spent her life at the intersection of the sea and science — researching what water does to us physiologically, emotionally, and communally.
We talk about Blue Health, the neuroscience of awe, the ancient Irish understanding of water as medicine, and what happened when Easkey became the first woman to surf in Iran. We talk about nervous system regulation, forest bathing, terpenes, and the shared experience of being in water with other human beings. We talk about what it means to notice beauty in a world that moves too fast to let us.
And somewhere in the middle of it all — we talk about coming home to yourself.
What We Talk About
- The ancient Irish understanding of water as medicine — sacred springs, holy wells, and rituals of the sea
- What Blue Health actually is and what the science is showing us about water's effect on the nervous system and brain
- Liquid Therapy — the ocean therapy charity in Donegal creating access to the sea for young people with physical disabilities and mental health challenges
- Easkey's groundbreaking journey to Iran in 2013 — becoming the first woman to surf there and what that experience taught her about belonging, barriers, and the ocean as a leveler
- The Be Like Water initiative and what happened when women in Iran learned to surf by starting with attunement rather than technique
- How shared experience in water breaks down barriers that persist on land
- The science of awe — why nature and music are two of the biggest sources of everyday awe and what that means for our nervous systems
- Terpenes — the molecules released by trees that literally change the biochemistry of your brain
- Entrainment and how shared communal experiences synchronize our nervous systems
- The difference between consuming life and actually feeling it
- The ocean breath practice — a simple, beautiful way to connect with water wherever you are
- The art of noticing — one beautiful thing a day and what happens when you start keeping a log of i
Connect With Easkey Britton
🌐 Website: easkeybritton.com
📲 Instagram: @easkeysurf
📚 Books: Saltwater in the Blood, Ebb and Flow, 50 Things to Do by the Sea
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You can reach me at podcast@dympnaweil.com
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