SURF YOGA SERIES: Warm Up Poses for Your Surfing Holiday
Today is International Yoga Day! A day to celebrate the benefits of yoga and find your zen. We are kicking off our celebrations by sharing our new Surf Yoga Blog Series, to help you get ready for your surfing holiday. In our Moliets, Santander and Fuerteventura surf camps we offer yoga classes but wanted to share with you some yoga poses and sequences, videos and pose breakdowns, designed especially to keep you surfing fit for your next surf yoga holiday.
Surfing and Yoga is the perfect combo whilst on a surfing holiday. Not only can you get the benefits of taking time out from your day to chill and relax when doing yoga but it’s great to build strength and stretch out after a big day on the waves. We talked about how yoga is great for your surfing and a way to chill whilst on your surfing holiday in one of our previous posts, so now we’ve decided to introduce you to some yoga poses and sequences to help you out on your surfing holiday!
Here is the start to our Surf Yoga Series, to get you prepped and ready for any Surfing Holiday session! First Up, Warm Up Those Muscles!
Warming up before any surf session and making sure your body is ready for your time on the water is key to a happy surf yoga holiday. Our in-house yoga teachers have put together some warm up yoga poses to prepare you for whatever the water brings, focusing on key areas of the body.
Mountain Pose – Tadasana
Starting with our core yoga pose, Tadasana, which literally means mountain, is the pose that you come back to centre yourself and refocus. Keep the heels and toes together, legs strong, keeping the shoulders down and heart open towards to sky. You can bring the hands to hearts centre on down by your side, whichever feels more comfortable. Take your gaze to a point in front of you and breathe deeply through the nose.
Forward Fold – Uttanasana
Take a deep inhale keeping the feet together, as you exhale, hinge from the hips bringing the chest towards to thighs, knees can be bent here to release through the hamstrings. With each exhale, allow the chest to relax further towards the legs.
Downward Facing Dog – Adho Mukha Svanasana
Bring yourself into a hands and knees position where your wrists and elbows are directly under the shoulders and the knees are directly underneath the hips. Tuck the toes underneath and begin to push the hands into the ground and you bend through the knees and bring the hips towards the heels, keeping the back as straight and extended as possible.
Once here, lift your hips towards the sky keeping the knees bent if you are tight in the backs of the thighs/begin to round through the back. Start to bring the heels towards the ground and straighten through the legs, activating through your core. Keep reaching the hips towards the sky and pushing the ground away with your hands, arms are straight. Try to keep your shoulders away from your ears.
3 Legged Dog – Eka Pada Adho Mukha Svanasana
Remaining in Downward Facing Dog, as you inhale lift the right leg, it can go as high or as low as you like, allowing the hips to open as you lift the legs, creating more movement through the spine and the hips. Exhale, lower the right leg and repeat on the other side. Preferably with a dog companion!
Low Lunge – Anjaneyasana
Stepping the leg through from 3 legged dog and placing the foot between your hands, bring the back knee into contact with the floor, or if you are wanting to build a little fire in the belly and the legs then lift the back knee off the ground. Squeeze the inner thighs together to help stabilise yourself, breathe in and lift the arms up high above your head.
Wide legged forward fold – Prasarita Padottanasana
Step the feet out wide, keep the feet pointing forwards. Inhale deeply lifting the arms to shoulder height and as you exhale fold from the hips, relaxing the torso down, bringing your head towards the earth. For an extra stretch through the shoulders and the chest you can interlace the fingers together behind your back and slowly, with straight arms, lift your arms towards the sky.
Wide Legged Forward Fold with Twists – Parivrtta Prasarita Padottanasana
With your legs still wide, place the right hand on the floor, lift the left arm up towards the sky, gazing up at the hand whilst enjoying the twist you feel through the body. Slowly place the left hand back down and lift through the right arm.
Cobra pose – Bhujangasana
Come to lying on your belly, feet and legs together, place the hands directly under the shoulders and keeping the neck in line with the spine, slowly push into the hands, lifting the chest off the ground, finding an extended mini back bend, warming up the spine. This is a great pose for building up strength for both popping up and paddling. ;)
Enjoy a bit of movement with breath to warm up ready for your surfing sesh! Looking forward to seeing you on the mat and board on your next surfing holiday!