What better way to warm up before you hit the waves than with a yoga flow? Get in touch with the earth and the ocean before your surf session with this sequence of opening and energizing postures.
Set up your yoga mat or beach blanket and follow these steps to get into the flow of the elements around you.
1. Side Bends
Starting with your feet together, inhale both arms above your head. Clasp your hands together letting both index fingers pointing towards the sky. Bend your upper body to the right keeping your shoulders away from your ears, feeling the stretch in your left side. Inhale back to center, and exhale bending your upper body to the left side.
2. Sun Salutation
Keeping your arms towards the sky, breathe in the ocean air. Bending at the hips, bring your body into a forward fold, letting your head hang towards the ground. Inhale, lift your body into a flat back with your hands on your knees or shins. Exhale, forward fold again. Planting your hands into the ground, step back into a plank. Rolling forward onto your toes, lower your body towards the earth. Pulling your chest through hands, peel your upper body up and untuck your toes coming into your full cobra pose. Tuck your toes, pulling your hips up and come into your first downward dog.
3. Warrior II
From your downward dog, bring your right foot in between your hands and rotate your back foot at a 90 degrees angle. Bend into your front leg until your knee is slightly over the ankle, keeping your back leg straight and bring both arms away from your shoulders and parallel to your ground.
4. Exalted Warrior
From your Warrior II pose, place your back hand on the back of your thigh as you flip your front palm upwards and reach towards the sky. Lift and lengthen your spine as you gaze up towards your hand.
5. Side Angle
From Exalted Warrior, lower your front elbow above your knee. Keep your core strong so you don’t sink your weight onto your elbow. Reach your back arm above your head with your palm facing down, creating space between your shoulder and your ear.
6. Tree
From your side angle pose, come to standing with your feet together. Transfer your weight onto one foot, planting it firmly into the ground. Bend your other leg, bringing your knee out to the side and place the sole of your foot above the standing knee. Your toes will point towards the ground while your heel is pressing into your leg. You can feel free to place the sole of your foot below the knee if your hips are feeling tight. As you find your balance, bring your hands to heart center.
7. Wild Thing
After doing both sides of your tree pose, make your way to downward dog. Lift your left leg towards the sky to come into your three-legged dog. Transferring your weight onto your right hand, roll onto the outer edge of your right foot. With your left leg lifted, bend at the knee and step your left foot back, placing your toes on the floor. From here, lift your hips higher and sweep your left hand over your head. Make sure to do this on the other side as well!
From Wild Thing, come back to down dog. Drop your knees wide while keeping your feet together and sit back on your heels. Relax your forehead into the earth and exhale.
