- Urge surfing means observing a craving without acting on it or fighting it.
- The idea: a craving builds, peaks and passes — like a wave — if you let it.
- In one study, people taught the technique smoked fewer cigarettes over the following week.
What urge surfing is
Urge surfing was developed by the psychologist G. Alan Marlatt as part of relapse prevention. Instead of white-knuckling a craving or giving in to it, you treat it as something to observe. A craving rises, reaches a peak, and falls away. Your job is to stay on the board until it does.
It fits how cravings really behave. Ireland’s HSE says individual cravings usually pass in 3 to 5 minutes — a wave, not a wall.
What the research found
In a 2009 study in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, Sarah Bowen and Alan Marlatt taught a brief urge-surfing instruction to 123 college smokers who were interested in changing their smoking. The groups did not differ significantly in how strong their urges were. But the people taught the technique smoked significantly fewer cigarettes over the following seven days than those who were not.
The authors’ reading is worth keeping: the technique may not shrink the urge at first — it may change how you respond to it. That is exactly the skill you need in the moment. It is one study in a specific group, so treat it as encouraging, not as a promise.
How to do it: five steps
- Notice. Stop and say to yourself: “this is a craving.” Naming it takes you one step back from it.
- Locate it. Where do you feel it — throat, chest, hands, jaw? Rate its strength from 1 to 10.
- Breathe. Slow breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth. Let the breath be the anchor.
- Watch the wave. Picture the craving as a wave building. Do not push it away; do not follow it. Notice it climb, crest and start to fall. Re-rate it every minute.
- Note what happened. When it has passed, notice that you did not act on it. Write down what set it off — that is a trigger you now know.
Tips that make it work
- Set a timer for five minutes so you are not guessing how long it has been.
- Expect it to get louder before it fades. That is the crest, not failure.
- Be kind about it. If your mind wanders to smoking or vaping, notice that and come back to the breath.
- Combine tools. Urge surfing pairs well with the four Ds — delay, distract, deep breaths, drink water.
When it is hard
Very strong cravings, poor sleep, stress or alcohol can all make a wave feel bigger. If you keep getting knocked off, that is information, not failure: check your triggers, add a second technique, and consider talking to a doctor, pharmacist or quitline about extra support.
How UrgeLock uses it
UrgeLock’s guided actions are built on the same idea: give the peak something to do while it passes. One tap picks a short action — paced breathing, water, a walk, a focus game — matched to your trigger, and counts the urge as beaten when you get through it. It is a behaviour tool, not medical treatment.
Sources
- Bowen, S., & Marlatt, A. (2009). Surfing the urge: brief mindfulness-based intervention for college student smokers. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 23(4), 666–671. Abstract on Semantic Scholar
- Mindfulness-Based Treatment to Prevent Addictive Behavior Relapse: Theoretical Models and Hypothesized Mechanisms of Change — PubMed Central
- Cravings and withdrawal when you stop smoking — HSE, Ireland