Yoga for Surfers: A Simple Sequence for Surfers of All Levels

Regardless of whether you are someone who is interested in learning how to surf or an intermediate or advanced surfer, you should seriously consider starting a yoga practice. You can do it at home or attend beginner classes at a local yoga studio. We recommend you go at least once a week.

I am an avid surfer, surf instructor, and yogi. I have been practicing for over a decade and did a 250-hour Yoga Alliance certified teacher training to deepen my practice.

Currently, I am on a journey of attempting at least ten minutes of yoga every day. One reason for this is that yoga has a myriad of physical benefits that transfer to surfing.

So, don’t be intimidated by yoga jargon, pretentious yoga studios, or fancy yoga poses.

Yoga is for everyone — and especially surfers

The origin and original purpose of yoga are complex, but generally speaking, yoga is thought to enhance three main areas of your life:

1. Physical
2. Mental
3. Spiritual

The physical value of yoga is simple: increase blood flow, warm up and stretch muscles, improve flexibility and balance, and build strength.

Yoga is truly a healing practice. As you continue to practice yoga, all of its qualities will begin to reveal themselves to you.

Yet, for surfing, there are a few key benefits we can name:

• Deep breathing techniques. Also known as Pranayama. This helps the mind and body stay calm when swimming under waves and holding our breath in the ocean.
• Mind-body connection. When the body works in unison with the mind, we have better balance, focus, and agility. We are also more prone to enter into a “flow state.”
• Mobility. The ability to move freely and quickly can bring great joy. Yet, it is something that is often lost with time and age. Yoga helps restore lost mobility so that we can feel free in our bodies and not be limited by age when learning to surf later as an older adult.
• Injury prevention. Likewise, as we improve the body’s mobility, we strengthen tendons and ligaments that might have been otherwise likely to tear. Yoga gets oxygen-rich blood pumping and circulating through the body to lubricate each joint.

Get started using yoga to improve your surfing

When learning to surf, you will likely use parts of your body that you are not accustomed to using. Surfing can be very intensive on both the upper and lower back, the neck and shoulders, and the arms.

The learning-to-surf process is all about engaging those small and large muscle groups, as well as using the joints in potentially new ways.

Yoga can help the process in both building the tools necessary to surf effectively and also in the recovery component.

Using a short yoga sequence to improve flexibility and mobility

Yoga poses are called Asanas and are usually done in a sequence. In some cases, the movement is in conjunction with the breath. That means we transition into a new pose on each inhale and exhale.

However, for beginners, staying in each pose for between three to five deep breaths is recommended. Once you move into the pose, stay still and focus on breathing.

Take inhales and exhales to the count of four, and see if you can lengthen your breathing and relax any tense muscles while in the pose.

Transition to the new pose slowly and mindfully. The goal isn’t to do many poses but to mindfully breathe in each pose we come into.

That’s where the actual benefits of yoga reside.

Four essential yoga poses for beginner surfers

The following poses provide a foundation for more challenging poses and/or ones that require more strength.

Yoga is a journey, so enjoy the process and meet yourself at your skill level.

Although some poses may feel uncomfortable, you should never feel pain in a pose, and if you do, slowly come out of it and look for a variation of that pose that is better suited for your body.

Wide Leg Child Pose (Prasarita Balasana)

• Function: Stretches inner groin and hips and thighs. Gently stretches the lower back and relaxes the spine, shoulders, and head.
• Yoga for surfers: This yoga pose opens hips, which aids in balancing and sitting on the surfboard.
• Modifications: If you have knee injuries or ankle pain, lay on your back and hug your knees towards the armpits.

Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana)

• Function: Builds back strength and spinal flexibility.
• Yoga for surfers: Strengthens the back muscles for paddling and increases flexibility in the spine, chest, shoulders, and abdomen — essential for efficient paddling.
• Modifications: To reduce low-back pain, keep your chest low and only lift a few inches off the ground at a time.

Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)

• Function: Provides total body strengthening — including the arms, shoulders, back, and core. Down-dog also works to calm the nervous system.
• Yoga for surfers: Stretches the back of the legs to help prevent calf or foot cramps and relieve back pain after long paddle sessions.
• Modifications: Keep a generous bend in the knees or use blocks under your hands to make the pose feel more comfortable for the back legs.

Low Lunge (Anjaneyasana)

• Function: Improves hip and knee mobility while stretching the quads, hamstrings, and groin. Start with the right leg and then do the left leg.
• Yoga for surfers: This pose will improve arm strength and increase hip flexibility. This will make the process easier when transitioning from a prone to a standing position on a surfboard.
• Modifications: Place the hands on blocks or books to lift the upper body higher off the ground to reduce any tenseness or negative sensations.

Continue using yoga as your surfing progresses

At Bodhi Surf + Yoga, we’re big believers in “simple poses, done well.” We encourage you to practice even the most “basic” postures until they are comfortable and you feel their full benefits.

As your surfing progresses, you can (and should!) continue to use the yoga practice to benefit you physically, mentally, and spiritually. Yoga can help you take your surfing to the next level.

Using a short yoga sequence to gain strength and balance

Once you master the previous four-pose yoga sequence, you can move on to a more advanced sequence.

Doing it will improve paddle strength and protect the life and mobility of your joints for years to come.

Five essential yoga postures for intermediate to advanced surfers

Practice these five poses in a sequence as a pre-surf warm-up right on the beach, with the “one breath per posture” flow.

Inhale into puppy pose, and exhale to plank, inhale upward dog, exhale downward dog, etc. and repeat the sequence three times.

As a cool-down, you can also use the sequence by taking five deep breaths in each pose.

Puppy Pose (Uttana Shishosana)

• Function: Provides an incredibly deep shoulder stretch.
• Yoga for surfers: Helps release tension in the neck and shoulders (some of the main muscle groups used for surfing) after plenty of paddling and pop-ups.
• Modifications: Placing hands or elbows on blocks will increase the sensation.

Plank Pose or Side Plank Pose (Phalakasana or Vasisthasana)

• Function: Builds strength in the core, shoulders, arms, and legs.
• Yoga for surfers: A strong core helps surfers paddle faster and make more powerful turns.
• Modifications: If you have wrist pain, you can also do this pose with your forearms on the ground. Moving into the side plank and lifting your top leg a few inches is an extra strength-builder.

Upward Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana)

• Function: Stretches the spinal column, abdomen, back and chest. Builds arm, shoulder, and core strength.
• Yoga for surfers: This posture helps develop the strength needed to improve your pop-up, making it faster and more efficient.
• Modifications: You can place hands on blocks to deepen the stretch in the hip flexors.

Downward Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)

• Function: Provides total body toning including the arms, shoulders, back and core. Also gives a gentle stretch down the back of the legs and through the feet.
• Yoga for surfers: This is a great warm-up pose to get the blood circulating around the shoulder and hip joints as inversions (head below the heart) improve cardiovascular strength and boost energy levels.
• Modifications: Lifting one leg at a time and stretching the hip so that the knee faces towards the ceiling also improves hip mobility.

High Lunge (Ashta Chandrasana)

• Function: This pose is a hip opener, leg and knee strengthener, and improves balance.
• Yoga for surfers: A high lunge will make your legs stronger, your core firmer, and your hips more flexible, crucial for everything from a quick pop-up to advanced barrel riding.
• Modifications: Find a spinal twist to challenge your balance by bringing your hands to the prayer position before your heart and then twisting slowly towards the bent knee.

Setting an intention for your practice

Many folks like to set an intention before they practice yoga. This can be very powerful as it gives the mind something to focus on. Surfing requires a strong mental game, so having a mantra can be a critical skill when learning to surf.

It can be a short word such as “patience,” or something longer such as “I let go of tension.”

In fact, many surfers also use such intentions to begin their surf sessions or while they are in the water to stay calm.

Here at Bodhi Surf + Yoga, we have our own surf mantra, “I smile while I paddle.”

This little expression goes a long way in helping us stay calm, present, and having fun (even during the more difficult part of surfing — paddling).

Finding your own mantra

Personally, my favorite mantra comes from Thich Nhat Hahn, and is coordinated with the breath:

Breathing in, I know I am breathing in.
Breathing out, I know I am breathing out.
Breathing in, I notice my inbreath has become deeper.
Breathing out, I notice that my out-breath has become slower….
Breathing in, I dwell in the present moment.
Breathing out, I feel it is a wonderful moment.

Remember, it only takes ten minutes of yoga every day to observe the difference in your body and in your mind.

The best yoga poses for a healthy body are the kind you practice every day.

Check out the benefits of combining surfing and yoga, and take a look at our various surf and yoga camps to learn more to deepen your practice.