The surfing community is well aware that there is a natural affinity between surf and yoga—both are vehicles for attuning to the present moment and transcending the patterns of the ego. The physical practice of asana has the potential to soothe aching muscles and improve mobility on the surfboard. But many surfers are often not sure where to begin and even what type of yoga they should be doing.

I have spent the past year working with surfers in the Philippines, tailoring sequences to meet their very specific physical needs. Many of the surfers I teach recognize their body’s need for down time and ask for sequences that allow them to release the tension that has built up in their bodies from all the paddling and pop ups.

And I always tell them the same thing; it’s all about Yin Yoga.

Why Yin Yoga?

Yin Yoga has become synonymous with long hold sequences in which the yogi explores each posture for roughly 3 to 5 minutes. Bringing the body into stillness allows for the less elastic tissues in the body such as the fascia and ligaments to be stretched.

In the short term, this allows for a restorative releasing of tension that has built up in the body. As the breath deepens, the body responds by opening up. Over time, with continued practice, improved flexibility can occur.

One of the more challenging aspects of Yin Yoga is not necessarily limitations in the body, but the way the mind will initially try and resist the posture. The key is to simply meet the body where it is in that moment, finding the edge of the posture and continuing to deepen the breath.

Recognize that any sensations being felt are simply a signal that the body is starting to loosen up. We can bring our awareness to the sensations without judgement, bringing all of our focus to the present experience and allowing the breath to root our awareness in the here and now.

Whenever the mind starts to wander, gently draw it back to the posture and the breath, and continue to give yourself over to the posture, releasing any resistance moment by moment.

Here is a list of yoga poses every surfer should know, presented in a simple sequence to help get you started. Although this is tailored for surfers, anyone can use this sequence to restore harmony to body and mind.

Opening Moments to Start Your Practice

Take a moment to first of all connect with your natural breath waves. Recognize that the body and breath work in tandem. Feel each inhale create space and expansion in the body, and watch the body respond to each exhalation—witnessing it release and soften.

Start to deepen your natural breath cycles, cultivating ujjayi breath. Seal the lips, inhale and exhale through the nostrils, whilst creating a slight constriction in the base of the throat.

This will give the breath a rich ocean sound. Watch the body and mind respond to the deepening of the breath and continue to cultivate this throughout the sequence.

1. Beginning Offering: Child’s Pose

Come on to your hands and knees. With your knees hip-width apart and toes untucked, take an inhale. With your exhale, sink your glutes towards your heels, melt your heart over your thighs, and draw your forehead to the earth. Keep your arms extended in front of you.

Start to deepen your breath, creating expansion between the ribs with each inhale, and allowing each exhale to soften you further into the pose. Child’s pose allows the spine to return to its primary curve, naturally allowing for a release between the vertebrae.

Sink further to the ground with each breath cycle, allowing the posture to ground you, nourish you and draw your awareness inside of yourself. Spend 5 minutes here.

2. Thread the Needle

Come back to your hands and knees, again making sure that your knees are hip-width apart, stacked underneath your hips. With an inhale, root down in your left hand and sweep your right hand up to the sky, stacking your shoulders and feeling a twisting coming from your core.

With the exhale, thread your right arm underneath the left, bringing your right shoulder and right cheek down onto the earth. Feel into lightly pressing into your left hand so that you are drawing your left shoulder up towards the sky, immediately opening up space between the shoulder blades.

With an inhale, press into your left hand and draw yourself up, once again sweeping your right arm up to the sky, unravelling your twist. With the exhale, bring your right hand back to the mat. Do this on the other side, sweeping your left arm up to the sky and bringing the left shoulder onto the mat. Stay for three minutes on each side.

3. Seated with Eagle Arms

Slowly and mindfully bring yourself to a cross legged position in Easy pose. Draw your right arm under the left, bring the palms to touch and draw your elbows towards your nose, immediately bringing your awareness to the sensation of broadening across the upper back.

As we abduct the shoulder blades, we release any tension built up from paddling. Continue to deepen your breath. After 3 minutes, release the arms. Draw your left arm under your right arm, bring the palms together and once again draw the elbows upwards. Once three minutes has passed, release the arms.

4. Butterfly Pose

Many of the surfers I teach joke about how tight their hips are. They groan when I introduce hip openers and yet, after a session, they will nearly always remark on how good it felt to work these areas.

Butterfly pose works on opening up the hip adductors. Start by bringing the soles of your feet together, placing the outer edges of the feet onto the mat and drawing the heels in towards you as much as feels comfortable.

Hold onto your big toes with your index fingers and thumbs, and use an inhale to lengthen out in the spine. As you exhale, carve out your belly, and fold forward at your hips, allowing the spine and the neck to hang heavy. Simply draw your awareness to the sensations of your hips opening and releasing as you flex the spine.

Remember: there is no destination in this posture. Stay here for 5 minutes, tuning into your breath and letting your mind and body sink deeper into the pose.

Finish off this sequence in a seated posture with your palms together in front of your heart with your eyes closed. Take a big inhale to the heart space, pause at the top of the inhalation, and with your mouth slightly open, slowly release the breath in offering. Cultivate a moment of gratitude for your body and breath.