Feel the Fear

As always, the sound of the jungle awakens me just before dawn. Soft light filtering into my room as I lie beneath soft cotton sheets, slowly allowing my mind to consider the day ahead. I prefer to move like a sloth in the morning hours, but today, the surf and sunrise are calling.

I drag myself out of my dreamy state, throw on my onesie surf suit, and chug down a green drink as I move through a few sun salutations and shoulder openers in between slurps.

I tread down the stairs to the surf rack, attach my leash and awaken my friend, who’s still slumbering in the dark of his room. We scamper down the trail through the jungle with the birds announcing the dawn of a new day.

As we reach the shoreline, the sun is just rising over Pavones across the gulf. A tangerine sky is glowing bright with God-rays shooting through the clouds. The first reward for the biggest challenge of maneuvering over a dense rock bed while carrying a nine-foot surfboard.

Agility is a necessity in this sport, and I appreciate how it keeps me feeling fit and steady on my feet, although I take my time and tread carefully to avoid any mishaps. We wade into the warm, bath-like water and paddle out to the surf line where the baby waves are crashing slow and gentle.

I’m determined to learn to catch my own waves after taking a multitude of lessons and getting pushed into them by my friendly instructors. But it’s time I become independent and learn the waves myself. I’m proud to say I did catch a couple of waves and stood up and rode for a bit, which is so exhilarating that it does become an addiction. I’m inspired to continue and find the groove of becoming one with the swell and the flow and the movement underfoot. The ocean being my medicine.

It’s much like yoga in that through repetition, one begins to understand the precise alignment that brings mobility, flexibility, strength and ease into the body. So much yoga these days is just throwing oneself around on a yoga mat. Compared to surf, that just wouldn’t work. One must be mindful of the movement and the weight and the balance between earth and sky to find the center point that allows us to move with grace throughout our days.

This morning in our 45-minute surf session, the true reward was a glorious sunrise with a pod of whales breaching into the light. It’s not just riding the wave. It’s the whole experience of being in the ocean with friends, a glorious shoreline full of palm trees and greenery, blue skies and macaws flying overhead, monkeys howling in the distance, and yes, the life beneath the sea surfacing to greet the day, just as I did.

I thank yoga for allowing me to become a surfer at this stage of the game.

 What new adventures are you stepping into in this chapter of your life?

Yes, there was fear and trepidation in my morning hours before I grabbed the board and headed to the beach. But hey, as the saying goes, feel the fear and do it anyways.

Maybe staying youthful has less to do with age and more to do with continuing to play your edges, remain curious, and keep saying yes to what makes you feel alive.

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs.
Ask yourself what makes you come alive – and do that
because the world needs more people who have come alive.”  

Be adventurous!