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TL;DR

• Tony Roberts is a pioneering surf filmmaker and Surfing magazine photographer who has been surfing since age 8 and is still improving at 61

• He uses Muse to quantify his mental state after decades of meditation and yoga — and found it recalibrated what "calm" actually means for his brain

• Real-time neurofeedback showed him gaps between how focused he thought he was and what his brain was actually doing

• He uses Muse post-session to come down from the intense dopamine spike that follows a big surf session without crashing

• Muse's sleep tools have helped him wake up fully recharged and ready to perform again

• His message to surfers in their 40s and 50s: proactive mental and physical training is what separates surfers who keep progressing from those who don't

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For most people, a lifetime in the ocean sounds like a dream. For Tony Roberts, it has been a discipline. A professional surfer, filmmaker, and photographer since childhood, Tony has spent more than five decades studying what separates surfers who peak early from those who keep getting better. 

His answer: the mental game is just as trainable as the physical one. 

After decades of yoga and meditation, Muse gave him something he didn't have before: a way to measure it, and act on what he saw. 

We chatted with Tony about flow states, neurofeedback, recovery, and what he'd tell every surfer in their 40s who thinks their best waves are behind them.

Who is Tony Roberts?

Tony Roberts, known in the surf world as "TR", is a lifelong surfer, filmmaker, and photographer based in Central America. A staff photographer for Surfing magazine in the late 80s and early 90s, he was among the first to bring the fisheye lens to surf photography, pioneering a close-up water shot style that influenced a generation of surf media. 

He has over 20 full-length surf films to his credit, including the O'Neill Ozone, and has been named one of the top six water photographers of all time by surfimages.com. 

Now in his sixties, TR runs Real Surf Trips, offering surf and shoot packages across Central America and the Caribbean, and continues to surf at an elite level, guided by the same commitment to mental and physical longevity he has built over a lifetime.

His approach to mental training and athletic longevity is what brought him to Muse, and what keeps him improving in the water at 61.

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A post shared by Tony Roberts (@trsurfing)

 

Is mental training as important as physical training for athletes? Tony has known the answer since he was 13

Q: You've spent decades in and out of the water as a photographer, filmmaker, and surfer. At what point did the mental side of surfing become as important to you as the physical side?

"Probably around when I was 13 years old. I had started yoga a couple of years before that and started to recognize a series of emotions — being one with nature in the ocean, being one with nature on land doing yoga — and finding the present moment. I quickly realized that the mental aspect is as profound as the physical aspect in the act of surfing.In fact, one of my biggest surf videos was called Mental Surfing, and that was in 1992. I asked all the best surfers in the world what mental aspect of surfing grounds them to achieve physical greatness in the water."

What does flow state actually feel like in surfing? Tony has been chasing it for 50 years

Q: Surfing is often described as a flow state sport. What does that actually feel like for you in the water, and how do you know when you've found it vs when you're chasing it?

"Surfing has been described as a flow state sport, art, and discipline. And it's so elusive because you can't plan when the wave is coming or how it's going to break.

Being able to achieve a flow state takes a very rare conglomeration of different aspects all coming together at the same moment. And when it does, it's something very special. Physically riding the wave, adapting to every nuance it gives you, and then mentally keeping an open mind so you're able to adapt to the ever-changing whims and ways of a breaking wave — when you do that, you know immediately that you've reached the flow state.

It's almost impossible to replicate in normal life on land, which is why it's so intriguing. The elusive nature is what keeps us so captivated. You can never get truly satisfied."

Learn more about how the brain enters and sustains a flow state with EEG neurofeedback

 

How do pro athletes train their mind? For Tony, Muse was the missing piece

Q: You've built an entire system around peak performance: diet, yoga, training, mindset. Where did Muse fit in when you first came across it, and how has that role grown since?

"At a very young age I started noticing that most surfers fell out early in their 30s and 40s, and I didn't want that to happen. So I moved to a vegan diet, took up meditation and yoga, and practiced those my entire life. I always noticed an increase in my performance — not only physically, but mentally.

When I first came across the Muse headband and I was able to actually quantify all those aspects and relate it to my personal performance, it was a game changer. I equate it to: if you're really into archery, you're always shooting an arrow — and then with Muse, it's like a target was added. All those years of practicing my technique, now I knew exactly where to shoot. And when I was able to hit the center, I could clearly see it and feel it. And then I was able to cultivate that exact series of emotions and techniques to continue that on demand, whenever I wanted."

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How does Muse work?

Muse tracks your brain activity in real time during meditation, showing you when your mind is genuinely calm versus when it's active or wandering. Over repeated sessions, that feedback builds a precise, measurable picture of what your optimal mental state actually looks like, instead of what you think it looks like.

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Can neurofeedback change how you understand your own mental state? 

Q: What surprised you most about using Muse?

"There were so many times where I thought I was truly calm and truly centered. However, when I started using the Muse app, I saw that in fact I wasn't as calm as I thought I was. And then other times, when the Muse app registered extreme calmness, I was actually in a state that didn't feel like what I recognized as being completely calm.

It kind of recalibrated my mind. I was able to see what is truly calm in my brain — in each part of my brain, the different brain waves, how my meditation practice actually relates to all those highly quantifiable measurements. And it truly surprised me."

 

Does real-time EEG feedback actually improve performance? Here's what Tony found

Q: Muse gives you realtime feedback on your mental state during a session. Has seeing that data ever challenged what you thought you knew about how focused or how calm you actually were?

"Absolutely. Being able to study the neurofeedback in the Muse app after every session has been incredible. I was able to break down what works in my mindfulness meditation practice and do more of that. Since I've been able to do that, I've noticed an extreme increase in my overall performance throughout the day and night.

I have an entire lifetime of mindfulness meditation — but it's the Muse app that has really, truly narrowed it down into its finest form."

Learn how real-time neurofeedback builds lasting calm and mental resilience

Can you train yourself to reach flow state on demand? Muse helped Tony do exactly that

Q: Have you noticed a connection between your Muse session scores and how you perform in the water? What does that look like for you?

"When I'm able to hit that center — that calm, focused state — I can feel the direct carry-over into how I surf. The practice builds what you can access on demand. That's the whole point. Surfing is so dynamic and unpredictable that you can't manufacture the conditions for flow. But you can train the mental state that makes flow possible.

Muse showed me exactly where that state lives in my brain, and that made it reproducible in a way it wasn't before."

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What does neurofeedback have to do with flow state?

Flow state isn't something you can force, but neurofeedback research suggests you can train the mental conditions that make it more likely. By repeatedly seeing exactly what calm, focused attention looks like in your brain, athletes build a more reliable pathway to access it under pressure.

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Why do elite athletes need mental recovery after training? Tony breaks it down

Q: You're surfing better in your sixties than most people do in their thirties. What role does mental recovery play in that? Walk me through how you decompress after a big session, and where does Muse fit in.

"The endorphins during a good session are intense. Dopamine blasts as strong as any other experience you could have in life. So afterwards, the mental recovery is something serious. You need to come down without crashing.

I found that the best way for me to do that is to come in, relax, and go straight into a meditation session. The mental recovery balances out that incredible blast of dopamine and endorphins that takes place during the actual surfing. Studying that on the Muse app, I'm really able to see exactly where the balance lies — because that is the main goal. In a lifestyle that has so many highs and lows, finding the balance is key. And Muse really enables me to see what is working in that regard."

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How does Muse support post-session recovery?
After an intense surf session, feeling calm and actually being calm are two different things. Muse tracks your brain activity during post-session meditation, showing you objectively whether your nervous system has settled, rather than how you feel in the moment.

Other athletes on mental recovery with Muse
How Muse helps high diver Kimberley Benson perform under pressure
How pro pickleball player Christian Alshon uses Muse to stay sharp

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How does sleep affect athletic performance and recovery? Tony uses Muse to find out

Q: Sleep is where a lot of athletic recovery actually happens. You've been using Muse's sleep tools — what have you noticed about your recovery or how you feel in the morning?

"Using the sleep tools on the Muse app has been next level. I'm able to see how many times I wake up during the night, how my positions change. The sleep tools enable me to get an incredibly deep, full night of sleep and wake up in the morning fully recharged, ready to do it again."

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How does Muse improve your sleep?
Most sleep trackers estimate your sleep stages based on movement and heart rate. Muse reads your brainwaves directly through the night, the same signal sleep clinicians use, giving it the accuracy to track your sleep accurately, and actively improve it in real time. 

• Deep Sleep Boost delivers audio stimulation during slow-wave sleep, 

• Sleep Assist eases your nervous system toward sleep with responsive soundscapes, and 

• Smart Wakeup finds your optimal wake window each morning based on your real-time brain state.

Want to go deeper? Here's how Muse's sleep tools work and what the science says.

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What do surfers who keep improving into their 50s and 60s have in common?

Q: What would you say to surfers in their 40s or 50s who want to keep progressing, and not just maintain what they have?

"Proactive behavior is 100% necessity. You can't be drinking alcohol, eating animal products, staying out late, having a lot of stress in your life, and expect that you're going to have longevity in your art, sport, and discipline of surfing.

If you look at the high-level surfers who are in their 50s, 60s, and 70s, what they all have in common is yoga and a vegetarian diet. I haven't seen any exceptions to that.

If you try to change once you're already going down the drain, it's going to be really hard to turn it around. You need to be proactive rather than reactive. Have that physical regimen that will enable you to make those mental adjustments — which will enable you to have the physical capability to surf and enjoy life to the fullest."

Is the mind as trainable as the body? Tony has spent a lifetime proving it is

Q: You've talked about the ocean being the central focus of your life, that everything else orbits around maximizing your performance in the water. What does it mean to you that the mental side of performance is now just as trainable as the physical?

"Realizing that the mind is as trainable as the body is the key. And the most important thing is that the mind can't be trusted. The mind wants you to seek quick dopamine hits, eat tasty unhealthy food. That does not contribute to longevity and does not contribute to your best form.

So how we reverse that is through physical regimen. When you push yourself to your absolute limit — and a little bit past — and you do that every day, the mind follows the body. The mind is able to make those mental adjustments due to the work you put in physically. You need to get in front of the mind with the body.

Having the ability to train the mind, quantify your progress, and then move on those improvements — that's truly game-changing."

What's the one thing pro athletes wish they knew about mental training earlier?

Q: What's the one thing you wish someone had told you about the mental game of surfing when you were starting out?

"When I first started surfing, I wish that some of the older guys had told me about the importance of a vegan diet and yoga, just for starters. But they were all into drugs and alcohol and chasing fast dopamine hits.

Luckily I figured it out on my own. And I hope that I can be that influence for younger surfers who are interested in surfing at a high level and enjoying life to its fullest — all the way through their entire life."

Fifty years in the water, one brain training tool, and Tony is still improving

Everything Tony Roberts does is preparation for those moments in the water. After more than five decades, the edge he's built comes down to one commitment: treating his brain with the same seriousness he brings to his body. Muse gave him a way to see that work paying off.

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Want to see the science behind Muse?
Explore the research →

Ready to learn how Muse works?
See how it works →

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FAQs

 

Q: What is Muse S Athena?
Muse S Athena is the first consumer wearable to combine EEG and fNIRS in a single device, giving you a fuller picture of your mental state than either sensor can deliver alone. It supports meditation, Mental Strength Training, and all of Muse's sleep tools, and is designed for all-night wear.

Q: What Muse features does Tony Roberts use?
A: Tony uses Muse's real-time neurofeedback meditation sessions and sleep tools: Deep Sleep Boost, Sleep Assist, and Smart Wakeup. He meditates daily as a mental training practice and uses post-surf sessions specifically to bring his nervous system down after intense time in the water.

Q: Can neurofeedback improve athletic performance?
Yes. Neurofeedback trains you to recognize and reproduce specific mental states: calm focus, recovery, readiness, by giving you real-time data on your brain activity. Over time, athletes report being able to access those states on demand, which carries over directly into performance.

Q: Is Muse only for meditation?
No. Muse covers three areas of mental fitness: meditation, active brain training, and sleep. During the day, real-time neurofeedback guides your meditation sessions and Mental Strength Training, an eyes-open exercise that measures cognitive effort and builds focus endurance. At night, Deep Sleep Boost, Sleep Assist, and Smart Wakeup actively improve your sleep. Athletes like Tony use it across all three.

Q: How is Muse different from other sleep trackers?
Muse reads your brainwaves directly, the same signal used in clinical sleep labs, rather than estimating sleep stages from movement and heart rate. That accuracy lets it actively improve your sleep, not just report on it.
See how Muse compares to other sleep trackers

Q: Can Muse help with mental recovery after sport?
Yes. After intense physical activity, feeling calm and actually being calm are two different things. Muse tracks your brain activity during post-session meditation, showing you objectively whether your nervous system has settled, not just how you feel in the moment.

Q: How long does it take to see results with Muse?
Most users notice a difference in their awareness of their mental state within the first few sessions. Measurable improvement in calm focus and sleep quality typically builds over weeks of consistent use as Muse establishes your personal baseline.

Q: What is Mental Strength Training and how is it different from meditation with Muse?
Mental Strength Training is an eyes-open brain exercise powered by fNIRS that trains cognitive effort and focus endurance, separate from Muse's eyes-closed meditation sessions. As you concentrate, an owl in the Muse app flies based on your real-time cognitive effort. Think of it as strength training for your prefrontal cortex.

Q: Can Muse track progress over time?
Yes. Muse builds a personal baseline from your sessions over time, tracking trends in your calm focus, sleep quality, and cognitive endurance. The longer you use it, the more precisely it reflects how your mental fitness is developing.