Surfing and Yoga

YOGA, BREATHING, SURFING, METAPHORS and other ramblings….

In daily life, I take time to free the mind, retreat from the worries of everyday life and really focus on the rise and fall of the breath. Taking long, deep breaths, I immerse myself in the moment and enjoy just being alive. When I’m surfing, or just floating in the water, I see the ocean as a living, breathing metaphor of life. The breath is like the waves. It is an ebb and flow - a breathing in and out - in the fluid expression of moving water. The body is 70 % water. Our body’s natural state is like the ocean, cycling with the pull of the moon, like the tides. Water is very feminine.

The breath is a extension of our energetic system. We breathe not only inside our cells, but outside our body. When I breathe deep, I can feel energy radiating in and out, even beyond my skin, into the vastness of life. This connects me to the universe and life force flow of energy that is in everything.

Our breath and the ocean are so similar. As a surfer and yoga teacher (and eternal student of yoga practices) I have found how each mimmick and intermingle with eachother. That is, yoga and surfing. There is a whole yoga to surfing. It is a feeling of complete freedom in the moment. Enjoying the waves, waiting patiently for the next set to come in, I am in a meditation. The waves flow and I ride their wake, sculpting myself to their shape, like I adjust my body to a posture.

Then there’s style. No two surfers look the same. Just as yogis create their postures according to where one is in any given day - we find our “place” in a pose. We come home to ourself. Lots of surfers and yogis talk about that. A surfer has “soul” when one lets go and allows their own energy to emerge onto the wave. That happens in yoga, too. Oneness is found in letting the soul express itself freely in its divinity and in the level of consciousness we bring to our practice.

When I surf, I enter into a state of such total presence. My mind, body and spirit feel merged as one unit. There is a total joy being expressed from the depths of my soul — whether I am in the water and the waves are good or bad — whether I can do a very intense Ashtanga practice or do restoratives… MY SOUL IS SINGING!

If you are interested in Erika’s Surfin Yogis Club, please see the Surfin Yogis Club.