Cravings & relapse prevention~5 minRepeat any timeMindfulness-based relapse preventionSMART Recovery–style
Urge log (urge surfing)
When a craving hits, ride it out like a wave — then log what happened. Patterns show up fast.
Urges rise, peak and fall — usually within minutes — when you don't feed them. 'Urge surfing' was developed by psychologist Alan Marlatt and is a core practice in Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention. Logging urges also shows your patterns: the times, places and feelings that keep coming up.
- Stop. Notice the urge without acting on it.
- Find where you feel it in your body — chest, stomach, hands, mouth.
- Breathe slowly and watch it like a wave: building, peaking, passing.
- If thoughts say 'just this once', notice them as thoughts, not orders.
- Stay with it a few minutes, or until it eases. Then log it below.
1. How strong was the urge at first?
2. When and where
3. What set it off (situation, person, feeling, thought)
4. Where I felt it in my body, and what it felt like
5. What the urge was telling me
6. What I did
Check any that apply
7. How strong was it afterwards?
8. What I learned about this urge