Patricia here :) and just wanted to share with you my new website, which I am really excited about! My weekly schedule of classes is here, and also more information about happenings and trainings. Lastly, you can sign up for my newsletter! Do not worry, I don't like them either, so I will only send a couple per year with all my retreats and events. I am also creating a meditation page, so you will know when I do that as well.
I was recently asked by a friend to share the most useful yoga asanas for surfing. If you have ever been surfing, you know surfing is way more than standing up on the board. There’s the stamina component, flexibility, strength, paddling out to the line up (my nightmare for a long time) learning when to paddle onto the wave to stand up, when to speed up, when to not go, and finally when you have all that, is figuring out your own style, cruising on the board. There is so so much going on! I will be breaking down some of the asanas I sent her in the next few weeks here.
Bhujangasana or Cobra Pose
The Basics
Bhujangasana or Cobra Pose variation
Prepares you for: Overall stability on the surfboard, paddling out, standing up.
Bhujangasana or Cobra Pose is an excellent core strengthener. This variation in particular is a great heart opener. By opening the Pectoralis major and minor, there is more freedom in the whole upper body for paddling, and you train your back muscles such as the Latissimus Dorsi to be more stable. This equals less work for the shoulders which can feel destroyed after a good session. The shoulder girdle needs all the help it can get from your core so that effort is spread throughout the body. Press your thighbones and toenails firmly onto the mat for maximum engagement of the entire core. Lastly, don’t forget to breathe! Steady breathing helps the nervous system stay super chill, so when you see a huge set coming you don’t freak out :)
Our May retreat to Barbados was a great success! Read about our trip here.
In late February, a group of 22 of us headed to Boca Sombrero in Osa Peninsula for our annual Surf and Yoga retreat in Costa Rica. Jacob and I chose the most important texts of Yoga as topics to discuss, and as always, we did our thing in the yoga asana portion, the usual, super fun, challenging classes. The overall temperature of both the water and environment was extra warm due to El Nino, but with that, we also got some super fun waves and beautiful, sunny skies. The entire group surfed at least once! It was pretty amazing. It was the most surfers we’ve ever had in our retreats!
That's me! So many fun waves. Photo by Morten Sølvstrøm.
It was a pretty long trip for me and my boyfriend Morten. We took 16 days to drive around the entire country of Costa Rica in search for more places for LSY to do retreats. We started our journey in Playa Hermosa, and stayed at the lovely Vida Asana, the location where we held our first surf and yoga retreat. We then continued down the coast of Costa Rica, into Playa Ballena, and then drove all the way down into Osa Peninsula to Boca Sombrero. Some of the drive was some of the most stunning scenery I have ever seen! And some of the ride was the bumpiest I've ever experienced. After the retreat, we went to the amazing Chirripo River and stayed at the Chirripo Lodge, a stunning and dramatic yoga retreat center located next to the Chirripo River. It was one of the highlights of the trip! The place was gorgeous, the owners were kind and attentive. Lastly, we finished by visiting the Irizu volcano, an impressive crater and dormant volcano.
Morten doing his thing. It's great traveling with a photographer!
One of the beautiful shalas at Rio Chirripo Lodge. Photo by Morten Sølvstrøm.
Next year, we are heading to Boca Sombrero in March. If you are interested in joining us, just e-mail me! We already have some sign-ups, and this retreat always sells out.
A private retreat we did in December/January 2016.
