THE SOUL-SURFING WEEKEND

VIRTUAL RESORT: Pause: Soul & Surf At Home (soulandsurf.com) COST: £80 for a virtual weekend retreat via Zoom with up to 25 people. Ten sessions, including surf fitness, yoga, massage and cooking demos. NEXT ONE: June 13-14.

SOUL & SURF organise idyllic surfing and yoga retreats in Sri Lanka, Portugal and India, but instead of sun salutations overlooking the Arabian Sea, we have Soul & Surf At Home. With a husband and three teenage boys, my home is all laser gun battles, PS4 and fighting. I could cry.

The weekend schedule comes mainly from the firm’s retreat in Portugal and includes live yoga, shiatsu self-massage and ‘pop up’ training (above) — because, of course, getting upright (or in surfspeak ‘popping up’) on your board requires core strength and technique. We’re sent cooking demos for dhal curry and coconut roti, and given links to playlists and a surf-themed film.

I join Hayley, who’s actually in Sri Lanka, for Zoom yoga. It’s 8.15am UK time and sunny, so I take my laptop outside. Hayley’s flow yoga opens up my upper body and leaves me serene, buzzing and upright.

After an online induction, we try the shiatsu selfmassage. ‘It’s a non-invasive treatment using pressure points on the meridian pathways,’ explains Becca. We tap around our jaw ‘like raindrops’ to release tension, then move to tapping our shoulders and chest. It’s surprisingly energising and enjoyable. A yin yoga session follows, and as I lie on my mat, listening to Rachel’s soothing tones, my mind slows until I’m in a blissful, meditative state.

‘It’s the first time I’ve seen you smile in ages,’ says my husband. ‘You looked so happy out there. Like Snoopy on top of the kennel.’

I’m loving it. I’m not even a yoga fan and I can’t surf, but I haven’t felt this relaxed in weeks.

On Sunday, I bounce outside for another flow session. It’s exhausting and my body feels battered, but dynamic yoga mimics the moves and builds the strength required to surf. At the end of the day, I’m truly sorry to leave.