Are you wondering how yoga can improve your surfing skills? Well, if you are a surfer or want to learn surfing, then Yoga is one of the most recommended physical activities for you. Yoga is undoubtedly one of the best work-out for your mind, body, and soul. No matter your age, it’s never too late to start Yoga. Whenever you start, you can choose your own Asanas and intensity to gradually improve in your own sweet time. Yoga has many benefits – physical and mental.
Despite being completely different activities, yoga or surfing have many things in common such as endurance strength, flexibility, balance, and mental focus. You can improve your surfing skills by adding yoga to daily work-out, especially if you don’t live near the ocean. If you are a keen surfer, yoga can definitely help you become more aware, of your body and its capabilities, be safe, and recover faster post surf sessions. One of the main physical benefits of Yoga is that it helps you improve your sense of balance, which is essential in surfing. So, before you think of joining our Taghazout surf camp, we highly recommend getting into a yoga routine. Don’t worry; we will do yoga when you’re here too.
Here are some of the best yoga poses to help you improve your surfing skills or learn surfing faster if you are a newbie to surfing:
1. Adho Mukha Svanasana – Downward Dog
Adho Mukha Svanasana is a basic yoga pose and used widely in many yoga routines, and helps you tackle any tightness, tension and imbalance in your body. The Downward Dog pose can help you improve your paddling skills as it engages the core and builds overall body strength and flexibility, particularly in wrists, arms, shoulders and back. It also stretches your hamstrings, calves, and spine that can help you maintain your alignment while paddling out.
2. Virabhadrasana II – Warrior II
Staying centred and steady on the surf board requires a firm stance and balance while surfing. Hip and leg endurance is important to maintain your balance in your stance when negotiating waves. Warrior II is a potent pose that strengthens legs, hips, and core thereby enhancing stability and balance, essential for surfing.
3. Utkatasana – Chair Pose
In order to paddle, maintain low stances on the board, and spring up fast after catching a wave, the quadriceps, glutes, and core muscles are used in Chair Pose. It also increases mental clarity and stamina. Chair Pose helps build the stability needed to stay low on your board while manoeuvring and improves the muscles needed for powerful paddling.
4. Bhujangasana – Cobra Pose
Bhujangasana or the Cobra is one of the best yoga poses to strengthen your back muscles, lengthen your spine, and open up your chest. This pose improves spine flexibility and strengthens the muscles essential for paddling, especially the arms, shoulders, and lower back. The cobra pose can help you avoid back strain from paddling for extended periods of time.
5. Navasana – Boat Pose
Navasana or the boat pose works abdominals, obliques, and hip muscles helping strengthen your core. Core strength is extremely important to ensure quick pop-up and staying balanced while surfing. Without a strong core – your surfing level will be difficult to improve quickly.
6. Vrksasana – Tree Pose
Vrksasana is one of the best yoga poses to not only increase stability and balance, but also to improve concentration and mental focus. The muscles in the legs, ankles, and feet for the base this pose teaching your body and mind to maintain stability, and stay centred. It requires regular adjusting to maintain balance during this pose, and this practice easily translates into your stance on the surf board.
7. Setu Bandhasana – Bridge Pose
Strong glutes and lower back muscles are engaged when getting back on or sitting on your surf board. The lower back posture also helps maintain posture while paddling out. The bridge pose opens the chest and hips and strengthens the legs, glutes, and lower back. It’ is useful for reversing the forward-leaning posture that frequently results from sitting and paddling on a surfboard.
Including these yoga positions in your fitness regimen can really help improve your surfing skills by increasing your strength, flexibility, balance, and mental clarity. Yoga gives you the skills you need to maximize your surfing potential, regardless of your surf level. Get started today to see the benefits on the mat and the surf board. Including yoga in your daily routine can help you across multiple facets of your life, not just surfing.