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In the last year, I’ve been learning how to surf. As I continue to figure out where to position my arms and legs so I can attempt to stand, balance, and fall safely, I’ve been finding that the physical aspects of surfing are essentially a series of repeated yoga postures: Cobra Pose, Warrior 1, Warrior 2, and a wide-legged Squat.
At the same time, I’ve been losing myself in the expansive feeling of floating in the ocean and searching for a wave to catch. Mentally, it’s almost the exact same disconnect from my thoughts and anxiety that I typically experience on my yoga mat.
As I talk to more and more surfers who practice yoga, I’m understanding how much the two disciplines mirror one another, both mentally and physically.
How Surfing and Yoga Are Alike
Here are several of the surprising ways in which the two pursuits overlap—including lessons gleaned from both which can be taken into everyday life.
1. Being Present
It’s not just the demand for technical focus that makes surfing so meditative. It’s the attention it brings to the present moment—an awareness of the wind, the size of the waves, your distance from shore, the feeling of the water against your skin. It’s the letting go of self that comes with being distanced from land and surrounded by something infinitely larger.
This rarefied presence is something I find difficult to cultivate in my everyday life. But it’s something I can access fairly easily each time I step onto my yoga mat.
“There’s a moment shared in yoga and surfing that transcends words,” says Bali-based yoga and surf instructor Geoff Brooks. “The surfer contemplates the transition from waters’ edge to the ideal yet illusive shifting place where they join with the waves’ energy. At the front of the mat, the yogi sets an intention for the practice ahead, working toward the ideal yet illusive shifting place where the mind and body unite.” Both are reminders that the primary task is always to be consciously present wherever you are.
Costa Rica surf champion Lisbeth Vindas explains her connection to water as a place of unparalleled presence. “When I have to think about something, I paddle out to the ocean,” Vindas says, “And if it’s time to cry, I cry. If it’s time to pray, I pray. If it’s time to be thankful, I’m thankful.”
2. Prioritizing Your Breath
The ocean can be chaotic and unpredictable, which means a lot of getting tossed around and thrown under waves. “It’s like a washing machine,” says Lia Hermosa Diaz, a 20-year-old Costa Rican national champion and Four Seasons Peninsula Papagayo SurfX athlete. A strong breathing practice is vital, says Diaz.
Breathwork and surfing are inextricably connected, both for conserving physical energy to handle the wave as well as inducing calm. Diaz trains by holding her breath for long periods. In the ocean, she explains, breathwork translates to maintaining your composure. “It’s being able to stay underwater while you’re getting tossed around and also keeping your calm through all that mess,” she says.
The same importance holds true in yoga. If you’re practicing poses but holding your breath, you’re kind of missing the point. Breathwork, or pranayama, techniques are the link between body and mind, says Brooks. In a yoga practice, pairing breathing with your poses links your body and your mind. By breathing in and out, you’re able to be more present in each pose, to be aware of being in your body, and to observe and perhaps even step back from anxious thoughts and downward spirals.
3. Surrendering Control
Surfing is essentially taking a lot of preparatory actions in order to propel yourself into a situation and then, once you’re there, releasing any illusion of control. The moment you enter the ocean, you must be willing to relinquish your idea of being in charge.
It’s not unlike how yoga prepares you to cultivate acceptance and equanimity in your life through your physical practice. One day, your body may feel limber and able to easily balance. On another day, your body may feel stiff and unstable. A strong yoga practice is about accepting inconsistency and continuing anyway to the best of your ability in that moment.
The same applies to your mind’s fluctuating ability to remain focused or be distracted. Understanding this, says Brooks, allows us to approach the practice of yoga and surfing with humility and vulnerability.
4. Discerning What’s Safe for You
Whether waves or postures, understanding your situation and your limitations is essential for your safety as well as your ability to take pleasure in the experience rather than resist it. Surf pros and novices alike need to approach surfing aware of conditions such as wave shape, size, speed, and power, says Brooks. Checking the weather and wave forecast, going out into gentle waters with a guide, and taking lessons are ideal practices for beginners. It’s a lot like how an inexperienced yoga practitioner needs to take foundational yoga classes that are aligned with the level and depth of their experience so that they can build upon that.
“The surfer moves from paddling against the energy of the oncoming waves to riding that energy,” explains Brooks. Eventually, with experience, comes an intimacy with the inevitable fluctuations. It’s not unlike finding understanding and comfort with poses that once seemed impossible.
5. Practicing Resilience
Surfing, especially in turbulent waters, can be terrifying. “But when you get tossed around by waves, the worst you can do is try and fight them,” says Diaz, who regularly confronts 20-foot waves that are about to land on her face. “You have to just stay underwater and let the wave do whatever it wants, and then you can resurface.”
That repeated experience, again and again, has taught Diaz to remain calm. “The wave is going to pass,” she tells herself. She translates this experience to how she tries to show up when things get tough for her in life. “Surfing has taught me to go with the flow and things will work out. I already dealt with this big wave, I tell myself, ‘I can deal with this, too.’”
Brooks agrees. “Even though you get thrashed around, you realize that it’s not permanent and you can endure,” he says. “By knowing you have the ability to survive your fall or failure, you dance on the edge of possibility and expand your experience.”
This resilience is also something that a consistent yoga practice helps to build. Taking time to practice yoga even during times of duress or stress is a sign to your mind and body to calm down, that eventually the storm will pass if you can retain equanimity during it. Likewise, learning to be easy with your body on the mat on the days when it doesn’t perform the way you want it to allows you to approach your practice with kindness, even when the rest of life seems imperfect or difficult.
