OneWave and Fluro Fridays, saltwater and surfing therapy for mental health awareness. Video courtesy OneWave

Transcript

00:00I was diagnosed with bipolar three years ago, ended up in hospital after a manic episode.

00:05When I got out, the thing that helped me was just going surfing.

00:08First of all it was by myself, then it was with my dad who also has bipolar.

00:12Just getting out there and getting one wave, like one good wave,

00:16was the only thing that kept me smiling and it gave me hope that things could get better.

00:31I've been coming to Fluro Fridays for about a year and a half, maybe two years now.

00:36Definitely brought a lot of new people together that wouldn't have met unless they'd come down to One Wave, which is pretty cool.

00:42I think One Wave has done an amazing thing in the community,

00:45that it's prompted a whole lot of action from not only the locals,

00:48but guys that, there's a few guys that travel from inner city and out west to come along for a Fluro Friday.

00:53It's OK not to be OK, and especially when you're out in the back waiting for a set to come in,

00:57you have those moments and people connect and people do open up, so yeah, it's a great avenue for that.

01:03And in your day to day life now, talking about mental health,

01:06there's so many people who've come to us as a result of like,

01:08oh you guys do Fluro Fridays, I've got a friend who's not well, like what do I need to do?

01:12It's just, you're opening those doors which are normally closed.

01:18Surfing has got this ability to really make people connect, you know.

01:22You get out of the surf and you're a whole lot more open.

01:28I've been coming to One Wave since Mental Health Day on October 10th,

01:37and I know that because there were almost 300 of us stretching down the beach.

01:41I was down here at the beach at night, rocks in my pockets, and decided I was going to walk into the surf.

01:47If I can just make it until Friday, then I somehow felt like it would be better.

01:57Basically it's a community of people raising awareness of mental health

02:00by sharing a simple recipe of salt water, surfing, good people and Fluro Fridays.

02:04I think the One Wave community has really lifted the spirits of everyone around Bondi.

02:0810,000 people now are sort of following what One Wave are doing and supporting it on social media.

02:14It's okay to be struggling, and it's normal to have issues with your mental health.

02:28The One Wave community has just blown Bondi's mind every Friday morning.

02:39The numbers that we get down here are just crazy.

02:42The Fluro get-up, I've never seen so many colours in my entire life.

02:51Come down here, do a surf, do yoga with us.

02:54Grab some Fluro, grab your mates and get out in the ocean

02:57and help spread the message that One Wave is all it takes.