Picture this: a surfer doing yoga on the water, balanced in her pure element while the briney air whispers enchantments. While they may see worlds apart, yoga surfer interwoven poetically. Both require total present and harmony — where your self-awareness, mental focus, and the vastness of the ocean become one.
Picture yourself diving at sunrise into the clean salty water while just the golden arms of the sun stretch across the flat horizon. A sunrise stretch, the downward dog opening its jaws to catch all the sunshine possible which feels like all the energy in the universe is being soaked into you directly. I knew a surfer named Jake who swore by his ocean-facing sunrise rituals. “‘I’m charging up my internal battery to deal with those waves,” he almost explodes with intention. And he is right; move through a few sun salutations and tell me that being ready for whatever the water toss you isn’t furthest from your mind.
There is a balance dance happening here. Much different work being on a mat, and then trying to thrust yourself through the water. Yoga helps with limber strength that keep your midsection balanced your board dives like a delinquent eel. Sarah, a veteran wave rider once told me, that ‘I remember my tree posture when I’m falling. I feel anchored, even when floating.”
Who knew that breathing, controllable actions would seem so simple, could be such a big deal. Now getting YOUR breath perfected, that’s a game changer. Yoga’s breath work, ‘Pranayama’, gives broad in a way the howling water seems… impossible. There you are paddling with all the power you can muster hoping to connect with the surf, your heartbeat explosive, suffocating. Work on those leveled breathes; long in, long out. Going with the motion of the water, a surfer will become like water in the ocean.
A shared sentiment is formed where mats meet boards and the community gathers. They are all about it and buzz in the right places. Like, Lisa, will bum rush into your and tell you “We’ll have to open a surf/yoga café, half fresh fruit smoothies and the other half wave wisdom.” Smiling, laughing together, that bond is strengthened through violent enthusiasm about their shared passion.