With winter just around the corner, now is the time to start prepping the body and the mind for the first swell of the season. There are many ways in which a regular yoga practice can support your cross-training and surfing, but for me, these are my top 3:
1. Injury prevention.
Yoga can help to strengthen the deep stabilizing muscles that support our joints while also encouraging suppleness in the tissues.
2. Enhances body awareness for more efficient movement (and dare I say style?).
Proprioception is our awareness of how our body moves through space, which is a regular theme when we roll out our mats. Enhancing proprioception is linked to more efficient movement and this can be very beneficial in a sport as unpredictable + dynamic as surfing.
And whether you’re in the nature or nurture camp when it comes to style, here’s some food for thought: As we start to fine-tune this awareness of how our bodies move, we can also learn how to more effortlessly engage the muscles we need and, maybe more importantly, relax the ones we don’t – which not only translates to even more efficient movement but also an appearance of ease.
3. Mental resilience.
Whether it’s breathwork, sitting in meditation, or moving through yoga postures… The practice of yoga is often challenging and uncomfortable. A lot can come up. But just as the practice (and ocean) reminds us, the only way out is through. And yoga offers a lot of tools to help us navigate through both the challenges and the discomfort… Tools that are not just limited to the time we spend on our mats or meditation cushions but tools that can be applied out in the ocean + in any aspect of our lives.
If you’re interested in exploring more yoga for cross-training or surfing, then roll out your mat with me (in person or online) every Saturday at 10am AST for a Yoga for Surfers + Athletes group class. We can also focus on more specific goals in a private one-on-one or small group session.