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Aidyn Fitzpatrick

How many times have you promised not to check your socials again or pour another drink – only to do exactly that minutes later?
A technique known as “urge surfing” asks us to do something surprisingly simple instead: notice the craving, stay with the discomfort – and let it rise and fall like a wave rather than satisfying it.
The approach has been around for years, but it is finding life beyond addiction clinics in conversations about all kinds of compulsive behaviours.
Its roots lie in the work of the late relapse-prevention pioneer Alan Marlatt and psychologist Sarah Bowen, who incorporated it into Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP).
Marlatt and a client “who was a smoker and also a surfer” coined the term, Bowen says. The two “together came up with this metaphor of staying with an urge until it passes”.
When Bowen and Marlatt began working at the University of Washington’s Addictive Behaviours Research Centre in the US, “we took that metaphor and sort of breathed life into it and made it into an actual practice rather than just a useful metaphor to understand a concept”, says Bowen.
She describes it as a form of exposure and response prevention: exposing oneself to something triggering, noticing the conditioned reaction and learning that another response is possible.
“We can stay with discomfort, feel that reactivity coming up and not necessarily act on it,” she says.

From addiction clinics to daily habits
The practical aspect is part of the technique’s appeal. Ting Ka-tsun, a Hong Kong clinical psychologist and accredited mindfulness teacher, introduces urge surfing to clients by normalising cravings first.
Cravings are not evidence of failure, he tells them, but part of changing a habit – whether it involves alcohol, drugs, smoking or endlessly checking a phone.
“It is very human to want to escape from pain,” he says. “Many people use substances to numb physical or emotional pain, or to avoid difficult memories and relationships.
“Mindfulness does not force them to ‘be strong’ – rather, it offers a safe way to feel what is already inside without needing to run away.”
The craving is the wave; your awareness of the breath and body is your surfboard
Ting Ka-tsun, Hong Kong clinical psychologist
The groundwork might begin with a body scan that helps people notice sensations without bracing against them.
Mentally tuning into the body from head to toe, you take note of tension, warmth or other feelings without judgment to help release stress and ground you in the moment.
By the second session, the client might be guided to imagine a risky but manageable situation – perhaps loneliness at night or a walk past a familiar drinking spot – and to watch what happens in the body and mind as a craving arises.
The point is not to be stoic but to discover, often for the first time, that an urge can be felt without being acted on.
“The craving is the wave; your awareness of the breath and body is your surfboard,” Ting says.
There is no miracle cure
Nivedita Ramanujam, a clinical psychologist at Hong Kong practice Inner Compass, says cravings don’t need to be fought or indulged.
Her instruction is to name the craving, notice where it shows up physically – in the jaw, shoulders or stomach – and adopt curiosity rather than becoming a participant in the mind’s storytelling.
The goal, she says, is not to stop the craving but to observe it and stay with the wave until it crests and falls back into the wider ocean of experience.

Ramanujam uses urge surfing well beyond addiction work, integrating it with exposure and desensitisation for phobias, OCD, anxiety and other disorders.
She also supports her practice with meditation, yoga and secular strands of Buddhist philosophy, including present-moment awareness, non-judgment and breathwork, and points to the yogic principle of brahmacharya.
Often understood as moderation and wise management of the senses, in practice, it means clean living, physical discipline and avoiding overstimulation.
Such philosophies, she says, “lend themselves to making the concept of urge surfing easier to grasp”.
At the same time, Bowen says it is important to realise that “there is no miracle cure”. Her strongest advice is to start small – for example, while experiencing the frustration of a slow-moving queue – and build skill gradually.
Ramanujam adds that the practice also needs rehearsal while calm, because when cravings hit, attention narrows. People forget the steps unless they have practised them enough for the process to become familiar.
Sitting with your feelings
Urge surfing is not a means of suppression, Ting stresses. Patients who use mindfulness to push away feelings may feel discouraged when discomfort persists or even intensifies, he says.
His job is to help them see that the practice is not about making the urge disappear, but letting it be present without satisfying it.

The local context adds another layer of interest. In an April 2026 pilot randomised controlled study of Chinese adults with substance use disorders in Hong Kong – co-authored by Ting, Bowen and others – MBRP was found to lead to improvements in self-efficacy for handling high-risk situations immediately after the course of treatment.
It helped lower addiction severity and boost psychological flexibility even at six months, researchers found.
Ting says the same mechanism can be applied to a range of behaviours, from stress eating to compulsive scrolling.
A quick note for readers: if you are currently dealing with a severe mental health crisis, intense trauma or overwhelming emotional distress, it is best to avoid trying this technique on your own without the support of a professional.
Ramanujam explains that in some cases, the technique must be adapted with care: people with impulsivity-dominant ADHD may struggle with the sustained pause it requires, while people with borderline personality disorder may need distress tolerance and self-soothing skills first rather than pure observation alone.
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Lifestyle

Health & Wellness

Health

The technique manages cravings and compulsive behaviours like phone addiction by encouraging people to ride out their urges like waves


The technique manages cravings and compulsive behaviours like phone addiction by encouraging people to ride out their urges like waves.


What is ‘urge surfing’ and how does it help beat addiction and break bad habits?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The technique manages cravings and compulsive behaviours like phone addiction by encouraging people to ride out their urges like waves

The technique manages cravings and compulsive behaviours like phone addiction by encouraging people to ride out their urges like waves