How To Save Your Surfing with Yoga

There are more than 100 different forms of yoga.  Find one that works for you as this is an exercise program that has been around for years and continues to prove beneficial as a total mind-body workout. The combination of strength and stretching with deep breathing and meditation or relaxation will both give you a workout, tone muscles and allow you to continue on with other activities.

HOW TO SAVE YOUR SURFING WITH YOGA

GERRY LOPEZ ON STRENGTH, FLEXIBILITY, AND PROPER BREATHING

After spending more than four decades studying the ancient Indian practice, Gerry Lopez is as qualified as they get when it comes to discussing yoga’s benefits for surfing. As it turns out, taking your cutback to the next level could be a Bikram class away.

The learning curve is so steep in surfing that if you’re not fully tuned in to your surroundings and completely focused on what’s happening around you in the lineup, you’re going to fail. I’ve been surfing for 55 years and I’m still learning. But I do know that if you can find your focus and clear your mind, you’ll progress more. That’s a part of the reason I think young people have such a higher success rate than older people in the sport. They’re able to clear their minds when they’re in the water. The older you get, the more your mind gets filled with all of the little things and it becomes increasingly hard to just focus on the moment and what’s in front of you. Back in the day at the Pipeline, if it got too loud and I couldn’t focus, I’d tell people “Hey, no talkin’ in the lineup.” When you’re surfing waves like that, you have to be tuned in.