Riding the Waves
16 Feb 2010 Leave a Comment
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A few years ago I was in the surfing capital of Central/South America, in the unique country of Costa Rica. The ocean there is spectacular and so so beautiful; you can sit and watch the ocean forever. The changing of the waves from small to large as the wind rises, the rising and the falling of the tides. I had become stuck on the idea of surfing so finally my boyfriend at the time and I decided to take a group surfing lesson… and I could not wait! (come on we’re in Costa Rica, how can we not?) Our surf instructor guides us through the basics of how to get from the start position of lying to standing in one jumping movement. So off we go in to this beautiful clear water. To get up to standing is not as easy as it looks. Not just that, if you do get up (probably after quite a few tries I might add) how the hell do you stay on the board? (I think this is a part of the lesson the teacher might have failed to cover) At this point I really start to understand where the expression “sink or swim” comes from… After about an hour in the water we had gotten the hang of it. As time went on I learned is that we need to learn to gauge the waves. As you see the waves coming you think to yourself “is this one I can ride or is this too big for me to handle and instead I can ride the wave in a more peaceful way by diving underneath it”? Upon reflection (of this most incredible experience) I think about how this reflects the nature and pulsation of our lives. From the moment of our birth we are taught how to “get up to standing” but when it comes to actually gauging those waves of life who is there to teach us or tell us what is what? Does anyone tell you “Ok, so there are going to be some really good times, and some really bad times and they will not be easy but here is how you get through it…”. To me this is why we practice yoga. We practice to get to know how we can push our limits, to push to the edge of our boundaries and we also learn when it is time to back off and dive under the wave to a softer place. Through the practice of yoga we try and make the waves of our life not so dramatic. Instead of riding these huge waves and trying not to drown we learn that there is a way to make the wave seem smaller and less harsh. We lean that within the pulsation of our practice there is a pulsation within the poses. To much muscle energy and the muscles of the body become hard and tight and too much organic energy the muscle and joints and loose thus leaving room for injury. As we learn to gauge the waves within our Asanas we learn that a balance of just the right amount of hugging in and of extension so that the pose has more balanced action. The practice of yoga is off the mat. We try and learn from our reflections on the mat so that we can ride the waves of life more gracefully. We ride the waves so that ultimately we remember that our inner most nature is one of Joy and the utmost bliss.
