Surf and yoga? It’s hardly surprising that the ancient practice of yoga would be useful to improve both the body and mind of the surfer and his surfing experience.

In general, the evidence of this fact can be seen in oceans around the world, as well as in  “Yoga For Surfers” by Peggy Hall featuring two-time World Champion Surfer Tom Carroll and tube riding ASP pro Rochelle Ballard. In his surf biography, “Pipe Dreams”,  Kelly Slater mentions yoga. Respected surf magazines have dedicated stories to it between their rigorous coverage of their main sport.

Even Yoga Journal recently featured a two-page story with photos of a yogi at a surf camp in Mexico.

     Why are the two crafts so intrinsically linked?

Experts contend that yoga centers the mind by practicing pranayana (breathing) and asanas (flowing), and as a result the body opens or stretches. This is what helps surfers and their craft.

Marial Marmorato, a Hatha/vinyasa yoga instructor whose students include a number of surfers at her Tamarindo SER OM SHANTI YOGA  says, “The body is capable of doing all kinds of movements, great things, bending, opening in all kinds of directions, and yoga provides the possibilities to do that with the breath.”

She cites a number of actual poses in her classes that closely resemble positions taken in surfing, like Cobra or Upward Dog for paddling. Both poses require a student to lie on their front with the upper half of their body—the chest—lifted high. Or Warrior II, where one is standing, knees bent, faces sideways,  fiercely feet apart hands level with shoulders and one pointed to firmly to one’s side, the other slightly bent. This pose is good for actually riding waves.

Surf and yoga go together like a perfect match!

The creator of the “Yoga for Surfers” agrees with Marmorato. And Peggy Hall, a competitive pool and long-distance ocean swimmer, who grew up near the beach, actually has actually been surfing for 11 years herself.

With all the swimming and surfing, Hall suffered chronic shoulder tendonitis and was scheduled for surgery. “I had done physical therapy, acupuncture, massage, cortisone shots, etc. and my husband said “Why don’t you come to yoga class with me?” He had been practicing yoga on and off since he was a teenager. This was 11 years ago, and yoga was still very much on the fringe, and the only class we could find was at the senior center. So we went, I loved it, my shoulder healed, and I never had surgery.”
So, you know, come to Costa Rica for your surfing and yoga experience.