Surf, yoga, hike, swim, ride or just explore a new place. Everyday I choose something.

I’ve found myself comparing yoga and surf lately. Both have positive impacts and Aha-moments in my life. Yoga changed my life. It showed me where my self-practises were lacking, and encouraged me to create a mental practise. I didn’t know what I was getting in to when I started yoga all those years ago. My spiritual practise was strong. My physical practise waivered, but I knew what to do (and not do) to be my best ‘physical’ version. However, I didn’t have a mental focus; I’d never really thought about it. 

The reality is, the crap we tell ourselves on the yoga mat is the same stuff we tell ourselves all day, every day. We just don’t usually have the silence or time to listen and acknowledge it. We need the silence and space to hear it, then we can consciously decide not to listen to it. Only then does it wear thin, eventually quieting and disappearing. I wouldn’t have spoken to anyone else the way I spoke to myself. I am grateful to yoga for pointing that out!

A yoga class is a controlled environment. I’m committed for 90 minutes, unlike a home practice where distractions are everywhere. Sure, we don’t know what class we’re going to get—it might be hard, too easy, or not what we hoped for. And some days, we have to hold chair pose for what feels like an eternity! But nothing lasts forever, and class will always end (unlike my sometimes idiot mind; beating me up for baking banana bread instead of finishing my home practice after it convinced me it was a better option!)

Surfing, has raised the bar again. I didn’t learn to surf until I was an adult. There’s no climate-controlled room or clean yoga mat beneath me. The weather can change, and the water is wild. I am not on solid ground! The ‘mat’ below me moves and tips, but if we synchronise our balance, we glide along the wave like we were meant for each other. Just me, my board and the ocean. Each time we get in the water, we gamble—it could be our best surf yet, or we might not catch a single wave. It’s the risk we take for the feeling of oneness with the ocean, the fresh air and salt water on our skin and the heart filled gratitude that comes with moments like these. 

Some days, we catch the wave, ride the face and the water is crystal clear. It’s just me and the wave. It’s silent, except for a few “yewwwwwwwws” in the background. Some days, the waves seem to go on forever, my smile growing, my face glowing, I find balance and it all just ‘clicks’. The swim back is getting further, but the wave keeps going. I’ve committed to the swim back; I just want a little longer on the wave, I’m not getting off until the end! I look down the wave, dolphins are surfing alongside me! The huge sea bird dives headfirst in to the water, like an arrow, to catch its prey. Moments like these are magic! 

The thing about nature, is that we need to surrender to her power. Some days it seems as though we can’t win. The truth is, we can’t. We need to go with the flow. We relax and come up gasping for air, only to see another wave coming! We get smashed by waves, one after the other. We start to doubt our abilities, we convince ourself that we’re not good enough to be out there. We watch the others who are getting the waves, the voice of comparison creeps back in. Don’t listen! 

This moment will pass, get out of the way of the crashing wave…. Get out of your own way. Breathe and take a look around. It’s beautiful. The sun is shining, the sky is blue, the water is clear and look … there’s a turtle! Remember that you are creating your own reality, and your mind can either be your biggest ally or your worst enemy. Our lives and minds are like the oceans tide; we all rise and fall. Life is just like surfing, we pick a line, commit, surrender and go with the daily flow, in whatever way that shows up for us. 

It's times like this that I can reflect on my life. I see how much the internal work is paying off. I remember learning to kite surf before I started practising yoga. I’m sure I would’ve been a lot less annoyed and frustrated during that process if I had my yogi mind onboard! It’s a good comparison though and I didn’t give up, I just made it way harder than it probably needed to be. 

I see me and I am grateful for the process