Surf and Yoga - how these two practices can impact your life
- 19 January 2023
- Surf & Yoga Portugal
By Carol Peral
Sometimes in our lifes we feel somehow we lost sense of who we are, if we are in the right career, right relationship if our goals are being met. It´s important in a restless society to maintain an healthy routine and good habits for the sake of our well being.
According to Harvard Medical School, regular exercise improves memory by stimulating certain chemicals in the brain, which, in turn, help new blood vessels to grow and brain cells to survive and surfing releases a cocktail of feel-good chemicals into your brain.
SURF
Surfing provides many health benefits including: cardiovascular fitness – from paddling; shoulder and back strength – these muscles will strengthen from the paddling. Leg and core strength – once you’re standing up on the board, strong legs and a strong core will keep you up.
Due to the fact that it is both a highly sensory and physical experience, you allow your body to disconnect. Essentially, surfing allows you a way to escape your mental troubles for a bit so you can improve your overall mood.
Surfing teaches you that courage is not about NOT being scared, but feeling your feelings and doing it anyway! When you surf, you’ll learn to constantly push yourself beyond your limits. Whether it’s taking on a new surf spot or getting back on the board after a big wipeout and this skill is invaluable throughout life.
YOGA
Yoga is a practice that has been described in the ancient texts with more than 5.000 years B.C. It´s worldwide recognized as a physical, mental and spiritual practice and is able to promote self-healing. The word “Yoga” means to unite and it does just that with the mind, body and soul. A union with the universe can be attained as well along with a proper understanding and appreciation of the world one lives in.
Yoga helps and restores the body senses imbalances in blood pressure while maintain balance. Another study found that practicing yoga improved patients with known coronary artery disease.
Taking this practice to your body can lead you to learn how to take a new shape with the mind. If practiced correctly, yoga asana breaks down the psychological, emotional, physical, energetic, and psychic obstacles that prevents us to thrive. Yoga also teaches you how to make better decisions as everything about practicing yoga involves intention—you set apart time in your day to do it, you move in a specific manner, breathe in a specific way. And when you are mindful and deliberate in your yoga practice, you create the opportunity to become more mindful and deliberate in your life. “The people who stick with yoga realize that they make decisions that are more constructive than destructive, bringing more groundness and awareness to their different levels of perceptions helping them in following the right path and directions for their journey.
Ready for combine those two practices with each other?
SURF
Our surf programs are comprehensive in that it not only includes plenty of time in the surf, but video analysis & feedback and surf theory classes.
YOGA
Yoga complements surfing in many ways. It strengthens three main skills any beginner surfer should aim to develop in the medium run.
PACKAGES
Check out our wide selection of surf and yoga packages to find the one that suits all your needs.