Rebuilding Lives
One Wave at a Time
Transforming Mental Health through the Power of the Sea
The “Breaking Waves” association was founded to rehabilitate and support soldiers and others whose mental health was harmed as a result of the “Swords of Iron” war and other wars and security events. The organization focuses on addressing the severe psychological distress that has become widespread in Israeli society since the war began. For this reason, we chose the sea as our therapeutic environment, and a large, comfortable therapy sailboat that also serves as a “home on the sea” — a place that hosts, welcomes, embraces and connects.
The Advantage
of the Sea
The sea offers a quiet space, far from the noise of the city and the pressures of everyday life. An open horizon, the gentle movement of the water and the sound of the waves create a calm and private setting, one in which a participant can slow down and turn attention back to themselves and to what they are feeling. The sense of boundless freedom it provides is essential for anyone coping with the tightness and pressure they carry with them on land.
The Sea
Experience
The sea is an open space, calm, steadying and enveloping. The separation from everything on shore helps participants concentrate and eases the fear, anxiety, tension and inner barriers that follow a traumatic event. Many of those who sail with us live with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition in which the mind and body keep responding to danger long after the danger itself has passed. Contact with nature restores a sense of safety, brings a measure of calm and makes it easier to communicate again with the people around you.
The therapeutic boat serves as a kind of home and as a gathering place for the group, a space for conversation and for release. This is why we chose an unusually large vessel, one in which every participant can also find a quieter corner of their own, which matters just as much to the work of processing and recovery.
Activity
on Board
The central aim of our voyages is to help participants regain a sense of control over their own lives, while redefining the limits of what each person believes they are capable of and gradually extending them.
Navigation, sailing, changing sea and weather conditions, physical challenges and personal and group ones: through all of these activities, we help participants grow stronger, experience success once again and rebuild their sense of self-worth. Just as important, every participant receives support suited to their own abilities, their own pace of progress and the way they integrate into the group.
Together
as a Crew
Sailing aboard a therapeutic sailboat creates an experience that belongs to the individual and to the group at the same time. Sailing calls for teamwork and communication alongside individual skill, for the ability to balance personal needs against shared ones, and for finding your place within a group of people, much as you would in the wider community on shore.
A voyage requires commitment to the crew and the development of responsibility and clear communication, so that the resources of wind and sea can be harnessed and turned into movement under sail. In the course of each voyage, every participant also takes a turn leading and managing the crew. The state of the sea and shifting weather test composure, decision making, self control and the ability to run a team under pressure, and all of these serve participants in daily life and in the workplace.
The Advantage
of the Sea
The sea offers a quiet space, far from the noise of the city and the pressures of everyday life. An open horizon, the gentle movement of the water and the sound of the waves create a calm and private setting, one in which a participant can slow down and turn attention back to themselves and to what they are feeling. The sense of boundless freedom it provides is essential for anyone coping with the tightness and pressure they carry with them on land.
The Sea
Experience
The sea is an open space, calm, steadying and enveloping. The separation from everything on shore helps participants concentrate and eases the fear, anxiety, tension and inner barriers that follow a traumatic event. Many of those who sail with us live with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition in which the mind and body keep responding to danger long after the danger itself has passed. Contact with nature restores a sense of safety, brings a measure of calm and makes it easier to communicate again with the people around you.
The therapeutic boat serves as a kind of home and as a gathering place for the group, a space for conversation and for release. This is why we chose an unusually large vessel, one in which every participant can also find a quieter corner of their own, which matters just as much to the work of processing and recovery.
Activity
on Board
The central aim of our voyages is to help participants regain a sense of control over their own lives, while redefining the limits of what each person believes they are capable of and gradually extending them.
Navigation, sailing, changing conditions at sea, physical challenges and personal and group ones: through all of these activities, we help participants grow stronger, experience success once again and rebuild their sense of self-worth. Just as important, every participant receives support suited to their own abilities, their own pace of progress and the way they integrate into the group.
Together
as a Crew
Sailing aboard a therapeutic sailboat creates an experience that belongs to the individual and to the group at the same time. Sailing calls for teamwork and communication alongside individual skill; for the ability to balance personal needs against shared ones; and for finding your place within a group of people, much as you would in the wider community on shore.
A voyage requires commitment to the crew and the development of responsibility and clear communication, so that the resources of wind and sea can be harnessed and turned into movement under sail. In the course of each voyage, every participant also takes a turn leading and managing the crew. The state of the sea and shifting weather test composure, decision making, self control and the ability to run a team under pressure, and all of these serve participants in daily life and in the workplace.
Stay in touch
Location: Herzliya (Herzliya Marina, on Israel’s Mediterranean coast)
Phone: +972-54-562-8807
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All activities are provided free of charge to those affected by the October 7 attacks and the war.
