Yoga & the Art of Surfboard Maintenance: An Introduction
“It is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea - whether it is to sail or to watch it - we are going back from whence we came.”
- John F. Kennedy
Having surfed since the age of six, I only took up yoga at age 17 because it seemed a good way to maintain my strength while at university. These days I practice yoga daily and only make it out to surf once a year, but the two have become inextricably linked, both in my mind and in popular opinion it seems.
Over the past decade more surf yoga retreats have sprung up globally than anyone can keep track of. London hosts weekly Yoga for City Surfers classes and Shiva Rea (amongst many others) has her own bestselling Surf Yoga Soul DVD. So, I felt it might be time for someone who straddles both worlds to articulate what has brought these two disciplines together (both on a physical and philosophical level), my insight on teaching yoga for surfers and what surfing brings to yoga.
What will follow over the next few weeks was written as part of my yoga teacher training course and was originally intended for a yoga audience. So, below I will first provide a brief history and outline of surfing as a discipline, including some terminology. Over the next few weeks, as I publish the remaining parts of this essay in easily digestible sections, I will go on to discuss some of the intersections between yoga and surfing in more detail within this historical context. The essay itself specifically focuses on yoga and surfing, but much of its content can also be applied to yoga's relationship and effect on other athletic disciplines.
There is an ongoing dispute within the surfing community about the origins of the sport, as archaeological findings suggest it may not have originated in ancient Hawaii after all.
A Pre-Incan civilisation, known as the Moche, who lived on the Peruvian coast over 2,000 years ago could be considered the original inventors depending on how pedantic you are about straw vessels versus wooden planks.[1] As it currently stands however, the best and earliest records of surfing originate from Hawaii where the first surfers were fishermen who rode waves back to shore on wooden planks in order to quickly store away their daily catch of seafood. This eventually developed into a popular pastime, known as “he’enalu” (wave sliding),[2] which was first recorded in Tahiti by James Banks during Captain James Cook’s first voyage on the HMS Endeavour in 1769.[3] [4]
In ancient Hawaiian culture, surfing was considered a form of art that had been integrated into everyday life and worship. Before entering the ocean, Hawaiians would pray to the gods for protection, strength and good surf. Building a new surfboard was also a sacred ceremony where every step, from cutting the tree to shaping it, had its own ritual practices.[5]
In July 1885, three Hawaiian princes first introduced surfing to Santa Cruz in the US,[6] from where it spread to the rest of the world. The sport has since evolved decade by decade into the ten-billion-dollar global industry it is today, boasting over 20 million practitioners worldwide.[7] Yoga surpasses this with its own sixteen-billion-dollar industry and estimated 36.7 million practitioners in the US alone.[8]
The main distinction in surf styles remains between long- and shortboards. In yoga terms, these are the Hatha and Ashtanga of surfing. One gave birth to the other, but since then they have gone their separate ways. Modern surfing mostly revolves around shortboarding, which was first introduced in the late 1960’s. It involves big waves, fast movements, tricks and to an extent, ego.[9] Due to the speeds that can be reached, each wave can only be ridden by one surfer at a time, which often leads to “snaking” (when a surfer drops in on a wave that has already been claimed by another surfer) and other territorial behaviours.[10]
Longboarding on the other hand works better with smaller, lilting waves that can be ridden all the way to the shore. The boards themselves range from eight to twelve feet in length, providing extra stability and weight, which in turn allows surfers to catch these smaller waves. Due to their size, longboards require more upper body strength when paddling and are more cumbersome to change direction with.[11] This lack of manoeuvrability however, allows for each wave to be shared by several surfers, as was commonly the case before the introduction of Shortboards.[12]
Additionally, regardless of what board you ride, there is what is known as “Hawaiian style” surfing, which is considered the epitome of good surfing. It places the focus within one’s practice on achieving a naturalistic style full of ease, as opposed to performing tricks that show a lot strain in the body. It is a term predominantly reserved for Hawaiian surfers who come from world renowned lineages that are said to have surfing in their DNA and continues to be closely linked with ancient Hawaiian spiritual beliefs and rituals revolving around various forces of nature.[13]
Similarly, to the first yogis who were often showmen contorting their bodies to win alms,[14] the early surfers in the US lived on the fringes of society. They were unemployed vagabonds who lived out of cars and surfed all day - not a glamorous lifestyle choice by any stretch of the imagination. Despite their origins as esoteric practices of the few, both yoga and surfing have transformed themselves into global phenomes as well as universal icons of serenity; something that resonates deeply with tense urbanites.[15] Their popularity arises not only because of their penchant for undoing stress and getting people moving, but because their traditions provide an engaging counterpoint to the modern way of life. They are unplugged, natural, old and centred – an easily digestible anti-civilisation pill if you will.
As a result, both yoga and surfing have, since the 1960’s, found themselves co-opted for commercial gain. Market analysts identify them as part of a demographic referred to as LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability).[16] Individuals who engage in these activities tend to be well-educated, wealthy, drawn to sustainable living and ecological initiatives. They seek out healthy lifestyles and drive hybrid cars. Yoga and surfing are now no longer callings, but premium lifestyles that can be sold as part of a retreat package.
Although these links are vital components of an image that I’m trying to give shape to throughout this essay, they are, in my eyes, relatively surface-level observations. They don’t show us the true depth of the underlying connections between these two disciplines that are, if anything, purer in nature. Over the next few weeks I will be discussing both the philosophical and physical intersections in yoga and surfing in order to then bring these findings together in the concluding chapter.
[1] Various Authors (08/07/2017) History of Surfing, Wikipedia
[2] Britton, Veronica (2004) The Sport of Kings, University of Florida Interactive Media Lab
[3] Beaglehole, J.C., ed. (1968) The Journals of Captain James Cook on His Voyages of Discovery, Vol. I: The Voyage of the Endeavour 1768–1771, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
[4] Captain Cook Birthplace Museum (2016) Timeline of the First Voyage of the Endeavour: 1755-1780, Captain Cook NE via http://www.captcook-ne.co.uk/ccne/timeline/voyage1.htm
[5] Britton, ibid.
[6] Dunn, Geoffrey & Stoner, Kim (31st March 2010) Riders of the Sea Spray, Good Times
[7] Bourne, Joel (4th August 2013) Inside the Curl: Surfing’s Surprising History, National Geographic News
[8] Yoga in America Study (2016) Conducted by Yoga Journal & Yoga Alliance via Yoga Journal Online
[9] Surf Science (2017) Why You Shouldn’t Shortboard, Surf Science Online
[10] Finnegan, William (2016) Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life, London, UK: Corsair; 1st Edition, pp. 23-24
[11] Surf Science (2017) The Longboard, Surf Science Online
[12] Surf Science (2017) Why You Shouldn’t Shortboard, ibid.
[13] Finnegan, ibid, pp. 30-34
[14] Broad, William J. (2012) The Science of Yoga – The Risks and the Rewards, London: Simon & Shuster [Paperback Edition], p. 14
[15] Broad, ibid, p. 1
[16] Broad, ibid, p. 3
