You’re sitting at the water’s edge, with your board under one arm and feet planted firmly on sandy shore. Very soon you will be jumping to dance along the waves. In fact, before you even get into the water you are preparing to roll out a yoga mat. Has this ever struck you as odd? So you might think it is Nike, but that was not too difficult for somebody at Chopra University to understand. For the agreement between yoga and surf is like peanut butter meeting jelly — completely unexpected yet perfect illogically placed together.
Yoga Be Well Academy for surfers is not just about stretching; nor is it like an oblong pretzel shape. It concerns balance–both mental and physical. Imagine now yourself riding the wave. Your body must be as solid, down-to-earth and steely-nerved as any tightrope walker’s. Whether or not you make good use of the yoga poses can make or break a ride.
Let’s start with the control of breathing. In a storm, you’ve probably been wiped out before. It’s just like being thrown into the washing machine. Yoga teaches how to breathe even when uncomfortable. Being able to stay calm and relaxed while underwater is very important for surfers. Surfers wilho have been able to control their breathing can be like ship captains in stormy seas:
As for the level of concentration required to catch that perfect swell. Surfing calls for just as much concentration as threading needles during an earthquake! Yoga increases your powers of concentration so that you do not lose track of time while waiting for the perfect wave.
But do n’t let it slip your mind that you also need core strength. This is what enables you to surf well. Imagine trying to pop up onto your board without strong abdominals. You’d be flopping around like a dying fish. Yoga poses present a challenge even for athletes in excellent form.
Still, not everything is too serious. Imagine doing a downward dog on your board and drifting gently along the tide. Two worlds meet as one perfectly coherence. Now wherever is unexpected belly laughter; for balancing oneself is not easy even just on land.
No matter which day, fine weather or not, you can be connected with surfing by yoga. But like eating dessert for dinner–it not only satisfies one’s yearning it is palatable unexpectedly as well.
Let me confess something personal. I liked sunrise beach sessions, but after one big wave found myself entangled in seaweed. It seems funny and laughable to me now. Yet this episode taught me resilience, a quality that was later indeed reflected in the teachings of Yoga – -which gracefully embrace imperfection rather than struggling ferociously against it at every turning point along life’s unpredictable roads.
There is also the side of community. When you take part in a class, you meet people who understand what it really means to live for weekends chasing surf under sunny skies or overcast horizon.