How a yoga practice supports trying new things

Hang ten: At almost 42, yoga has given me the confidence to ride waves.

“Focus on your breathing,” I tell myself as I paddle towards a large wave about to break over my head.

I know I won’t make it. Before the wave crashes down in front of me, I roll under the water with the surfboard above me. Wriggling my way back onto the board, I start to paddle furiously towards the green waterbeds.

“Focus on your breathing,” I tell myself again. My heart rate slows down, I paddle a little quicker and, this time, make it over the wave before it breaks.

It’s the middle of winter at Piha and I’m learning to surf. It’s not the first time I’ve tried the art of board riding.

My Dad’s a long boarder, who’s been surfing this break for over 40 years. Yet although he’s taken me as often as I’ve asked, my appetite for surfing has waxed and waned over the years.

Then last year Dad got diagnosed with an illness. He’s spent the last year bravely fighting that invasion, getting out in the surf as much as his body would allow. We’re stoked that recently he’s had the word, he’s cancer-free.

To me, Dad has always been invincible. I love his attitude and his aptitude for life. The photo below is him ripping it up in the Maldives, with guys half his age.

In the pocket: Dad taking on the waves in the Maldives, age 66.

Dad getting sick was a turning point. I decided life is too short. If I wanted to experience the joy of paddling out into the line up with my Dad, I had to learn to surf now.

In just a few short months I’ll turn 42 and it finally feels like this surfing schtick will stick.

I’ve been reflecting on what’s different this time. Why do I feel so much more mentally and physically ready for this than when I tried for a few years as a teenager?

The transformation has a lot to do with developing a daily yoga practice over the past 15 years. Regularly getting on the mat gives us the motivation and mojo to try new things.

What I know from my own experience as an Auckland-based Iyengar yoga teacher is that practicing āsanas has sharpened my body and mind’s responses and agility.

Learning arm balances and inversions, such as Salamba Sarvāngāsana (pictured below) has allowed my upper body to become strong. My shoulders are more able to support the action in my arms as I guide the board out into the waves. I can last for longer in the water because of this strength.

Yoga has also taught me to breathe and this means I’m no longer experiencing the same stress response. I used to feel scared out in the water. But this winter, I’m empowered.

Iyengar yoga teaches us a combination of āsanas and prānāyāmā that strengthen the body and prepare the mind. As its founder B.K.S Iyengar says, “Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day-to-day life and endows skill in the performance of one’s actions.”

As beginner yoga students, we practice āsanas first regularly to prepare ourselves to be able to sit for prānāyāmā. Then once the basic standing and seated postures are attained, we are ready to work with the breath.

Prānāyāmā is yogic breathing and there are different exercises you learn as your yoga practice develops. What I’ve found is that in the surf, or when I try new things, I support myself better because I can dial into my breath.

Making myself consciously aware of the inhalation/exhalation as I approach the wave means I’m using my breath to change my state.

By coupling a daily practice of prānāyāmā in the early mornings, followed by āsanas, practiced in the morning or the early afternoon/evening, I’ve become more adaptable.

Yoga helps us face new situations and challenges with ease and grace. It builds a self-reliance. A feeling of knowing that we can trust our bodies and trust ourselves.

It also teaches us about the power of community. Because it’s not just my yoga practice that is helping my surfing blossom this time around.

So much aroha: Jasmin (left) and Zara (right) encourage me to go surfing.

I’m also paddling out with an amazing group of Piha wāhine. We’re all at different stages on our surfing journey but, no matter what, we support each other. Our only goal is to get in the waves and have some fun.

Isn’t that what life is all about?

If you’d like to create strength and resilience and get more motivation and mojo to try new things, why not try an Iyengar yoga class? Click the button below to book your space for next term.