Mental and physical preparedness

The practice of yoga can help us prepare for these attempts on a mental and physical level. Between the practice of present-mindedness, pranayama, strength and balance building, and promoting a flexible mind and body, yoga is the perfect complement to surfing. Yoga can also teach us to be calm and clear-headed despite the charged and chaotic energy that generates the swells we chase.

Surfing is also an incredibly demanding sport. Surfers need core, shoulder, back and leg strength, stamina and breath-control. The lower back, hips, shoulders and neck are vulnerable to overexertion, stiffness and injury from surfing. And if we want to be able to surf for the better part of our lives, we need counter stretching and movement to balance out the demands we place on our physical selves in the sea. This is yoga.

Both surfing and yoga require practice, patience, and perseverance. They both need us to be here and in the now. The strength you acquire from surfing will surely show in yoga postures that utilize shoulder and spine strength. And the balance you build from postures like eagle or tree pose will definitely translate to better balance on your surfboard. The backand-forth benefits of each are immense.

Surfing and yoga are Google buzz words certain to yield a lot of results that include “Costa Rica.” Costa Rica has become globally synonymous with both. And in more recent times, it has become synonymous with retreats that include both surfing and yoga. That’s because, let’s face it, yoga and surfing go together like rice and beans, and they do so effortlessly in Costa Rica.

Nosara and Santa Teresa have become the main hubs of these highly sought-after surf and yoga retreats. Those two hot spots, as well as Montezuma and Playa Grande, attract likeminded participants from otherwise diverse backgrounds around the world.

Surf and yoga retreats create a unique space to share days that include daily movement, time spent in nature, healthy eating, rest, reflection, learning and friendships that might not happen otherwise. They create the opportunity to experience firsthand how these two practices and ways of life balance and enhance one another — like yin and yang.