Smashed – Surfing & Yoga
Interview with Bronwyn RustÂ
Senior Iyengar Yoga teacher, Melbourne, Australia
Photo credit: Jane Leonard, Instagram tag: @janekleo
Qu: Surfing – I was thinking about the word smashed, which leads me to ask: how do you feel afterward?
“Smashed”
Qu: Surfing – I was thinking about the word smashed, which leads me to ask: how do
you feel afterward?
There are so many things I love about yoga and so many things I love about surfing
and some of them are really similar and some of them are really different.
At this stage because I’ve practiced yoga for such a long time one of the things that
I get from surfing, that I may not necessarily get from yoga now, is you can be
absolutely & physically obliterated by surfing – you can go out and be paddling for a
couple of hours, it’s a tiredness like I haven’t felt for decades.
You are so smashed.
I love that feeling, I love the physical challenge of it.
Usually I get a really good night sleep afterwards because I’m so exhausted. Also
could be that I’m almost 60…
Smashed definitely!
Then there is the actual being smashed by the waves, over and over again.
That part of it – it’s just part of it.
I grew up in the ocean, I’m not scared of that, it can be challenging sometimes
particular when you are held under by a wave.
Luckily pranayama helps with that, the yogic mind; even though you can’t always
stay as calm as you would like, at least you can watch yourself not
staying calm. (laugh)
The whole concept of being smashed has a few different layers in surfing.
Qu: How long can you hold your breath for?
On land a lot longer than when I’m in the water.
A typical hold-down usually lasts no longer than maybe 15 seconds but that can feel
like 2 – 3 minutes, when you are pinned down at the bottom of the ocean, under a
wave, hands over your head, trying not to get sliced on the head by a surfboard, you
are very discombobulated.
The longest I’ve been held under is maybe 12 seconds.
Problem is when that happens you’ve usually been paddling for a really long time, so
you are already out of breath, you don’t always have a chance to take a breath
before you are held down.
It’s pretty tough, it’s not my favourite part.
Qu: How often does it happen – is it avoidable?
It’s definitely unavoidable. You could avoid it if you didn’t go out where there are
waves! (laugh)
It’s a balance between pushing yourself to catch better waves, but also being aware
of your own capacity and balancing that risk.
Where I am on Philip Island there are lots of beach breaks and beach breaks are
really unpredictable, they can be quite heavy.
Reef breaks tend to break more slowly.
So if you are going to go out and push yourself, it’s generally inevitable.
I try not to get held under but it depends on the conditions.
Qu: What sort of pranayama supports surfing?
Just your general Ujjayi and Viloma, being in touch with your breath, and developing
that capacity.
I have a few furry animal allergies. I remember going to this clinic about 15 years ago
where they were testing whether I was a candidate to receive something that
desensitises you to cats.
One of the things they do is a breathing test; you have to breathe into this equipment
for as long as you can. After my test, they asked, “Are you an elite athlete”?
I explained that I was a yogi. I think it’s the pranayama.
I think the effect pranayama can have on our breath capacity is really subtle and
maybe we don’t realise it until we need it.
Qu: Do you do pranayama breathing in preparing to surf?
No just as a general part of my yoga practice.
There are surf coaches that suggest you do things like 15 star jumps then go
straight into plank and hold your breath as long as you can because that simulates
the level of exertion you might get to when you are held down.
I tried it – I didn’t get very far holding my breath! (laugh)
So there’s work to do there.
Qu: I love the photos, your friend took, particularly that combination of yoga and surfing. Is that your standard sequence?
Surfing can take your body in any directions. Most of surfing is not surfing.
Maybe you go out 1 1/2 hours you might be standing on a board for less than a
minute. Most of it is paddling, falling off, and being smashed by waves.
Your body is often pulled in a lot of directions: extension, flexion, lateral, the whole
bit. Which is why Yoga is so useful as a surfer.
When I am preparing I try to take my body through those basics forward, extension,
lateral extension, backward extension. Particularly around the ankles, knees and
hips are really important too. Then upper thoracic, because you are just paddling,
paddling, paddling.
Qu: When are you doing that ankle, wrist, hip work?
I definitely incorporated that more into my daily yoga practice.
But I will specifically do those things on the beach right before I go out.
Depending what time of day I may go surfing, I may have had the luxury of doing a
yoga practice at home beforehand, so I won’t need to warm up as much.
Often the case with surfing the wind is better at first light: getting out of bed, driving
straight to the beach in the dark or half dark, on the beach I’ll do those things before
paddling out.
Qu: What is the sequence that you would do on the beach?
Parsvottanasana
Lunges – elements of Surya Namaskar.
Parsvakonasana, particularly Parvritta Parsvakonasana to get into the upper thoraic.
I might actually do that with the front knee slightly forward to also get into the back
groin at the same time.
Malasana forward with the toes tucked under.
Malasana sitting with the toes tucked under for the achillis, Uttanasana, any squat
work is good.
Standing: Arm variations standing – Urdhva Baddanguliyasana, Gomukhasana,
Garudasana to get into the upper back.
Adho Mukha Svanasana and Urdha Mukha Svanasana,
Uttanasana
It probably sounds like a lot; although I’m quite efficient with moving through that –
maybe 10 minutes.
If the waves are really going off and I really want to get out there, I can probably
knock that out in about 5 minutes.
And sometimes the tides dropping and you just got to go…
Qu: Do you surf with other people?
It’s nice to have a surf buddy but it’s not always the case, sometimes I surf with other
people, and sometimes I surf by myself.
I’m probably a little bit more conservative with the breaks that I go to if I am on my
own, safety wise.
Sometimes I surf with my son who is in his late 20’s, Jesse.
We’re going on a mother – son surfing trip to Medewi in Bali.
We are both goofy foot – right foot forward.
I think it comes from being a yoga practitioner, because that’s the side you start on.
Qu: Do you ever swap it over?
Qu: Do you ever swap it over?
I do in my preparations, on land, but I haven’t tried it out on the water.
It just feels really weird.
Qu: What is your post yoga practice?
One thing surfing definitely does is tighten your hamstrings because they are
engaged the whole time and also your upper thoracic.
They are the 2 areas, post surfing, yoga-wise, that I will concentrate on.
Viparita Karani is great because it gets into both those areas.
Setu Bhanda Sarangasana
Supta Padangustasana 1 & 2
Qu: Do you practice any spike work?
I do, my thoracic is quite tight naturally, when I was growing up I did a lot of
competitive swimming.
During the developmental years it got quite tight, and I’m quite broad across the
shoulders.
I do spike work and back bend through a chair, targeting the upper thoracic.
I try not to make it too specific, particularised, pulling things out of the practice for
particularise use. I do try as much as possible to keep things relatively holistic.
I found you can’t get too particular because you are working with a whole system,
system, certain areas of your body where you might incorporate a bit more, but in
the context of a whole practice.
Something else I would like to mention is the mind side.
I organised this interview later in the day so I could go surfing this morning. But as it
happened the wind and the tide and the swell didn’t line up today.
So I didn’t go surfing.
With a yoga practice you are dealing with change in your own physicality, emotional
and psychological self every day.
Every day you come to the mat you are slightly different.
There are other conditions that stay relatively stable: mat on a flat surface etc.
But with surfing you’ve got all of that part of what changes in yourself and then you
are also up against those changing elements of nature.
I love that; because it also gives me a chance to watch how that makes me feel and
respond.
I can be excited, frustrated, really annoyed that I can’t go surfing.
Fear and aversion that comes up, because you have no control over that.
You are dealing with nature, all these elements that you are up against.
That is one of my favourite part of the whole thing.
The opportunity to observe how all those things interact in myself.
An extra chance to observe all those aspects of myself.
It’s so mindful too and also its connection to nature. You are so in touch with nature
because you have to be across all those elements:
Full moon, tide, swell, wind, how they are all interact.
You are really connected in that way.
In yoga we don’t necessarily have to worry about those things, to the same degree.
Qu: You mentioned mindfullness.
Iyengar called asana meditation in motion, when we are practicing particularly with
feeling or perception as our reference it is a very mindful practice. Because you are
constantly turning your awareness inwards as a guide to what’s next in your
practice, how you practice, how you feel.
Surfing is all of that, as well as being in a changing environment, you have to be
completely present, you are 100% present in what is happening every single second
you are there because the consequences are high.
I am not talking about sitting on the board, out the back, bobbing along.
Even if that is happening you are constantly looking at the horizon:
Is the next set coming?
How big is it?
What angle is it coming in on?
Which wave in the set am I going to catch, is it going to be the 1st one or the 2nd
one?
How is that angling across the break?
Do I need to paddle over there, am I going to catch this?
So you are constantly right there in the present moment the entire time, so I love that
about it.
I don’t think about my shopping list or what is going on land. It’s right there in that
moment.
Qu: You are 59 in May, you have been surfing for 3 years, do you feel didfferent for it?
I do, I am definitely fitter, probably the fittest I’ve ever been, which I think is funny, I’m
nearly 60 and the fittest I have been.
I really value everything yoga gives you, we undervalue the mind aspects.
If anyone asked me now why do you practice yoga, 100% I would say it is for the
mind, and the physical benefits are side effects that I am very happy to have along
for the ride.
Being strong, being flexible, protecting your joints, all of those things are really great
from yoga.
With the surfing I am fitter, more muscular, which is not necessarily a good thing for
yoga, you want your muscles long and strong. Anything that is quite repetitive you
are going to build up some muscle bulk, that is something I need to make sure that
isn’t going to make my body too bound or inflexible.
So that’s the physical side of it.
Mentally – I think so, it has made me aware of other aspects of myself.
The big thing for me is that connection to nature.
In these times, in the world, it’s pretty intense.
I feel like I have really been driven to that connection with nature and the natural
world, I find solace and a comfort in that. There is something pure and clean and
calming for the psyche.
It’s definitely great to learn a new thing.
Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so drawn to physical things. It would be great to just sew
or some intellectual pursuit.
Obviously that’s just my thing, I have to use my body and use my mind.
Through my life I have lost a lot of people that are really close to me, a lot of family.
I like to say life’s not a dress rehearsal.
For me I’m just here to get the most out of it that I can.
I’m not just going to sit around waiting for life to happen.
While I can surf, I’m surfing.
While I can go on a mother and son surfing trip, I’m going.
I don’t know when things can change.
That is something we know as yogis, that we can absolutely say for sure is
everything can change.
Qu: What size is your board:
I actual have 3! (laugh)
What is known in the surfing parlance as mid-lengths:
7.4ft, 7.6ft, 8.2ft
Horses for course, different conditions.
Qu: Have you had any injuries that have held you back?
One of the first times I went surfing, really windy 40-50 knot winds, I have since
learnt that’s not great conditions to go out and try and surf in!
I was carrying my board and the wind got behind it and ripped it back as I was going
over a wave.
I actually thought I had torn a pectoral muscle.
I was really concerned, obviously as a yoga teacher the last thing I want to do is get
injured.
That took about 6 weeks to heal, so I didn’t tear it because it would have taken much
longer than that.
That was a bad injury, a pectoral strain.
The other one was I got dumped and landed on my head in maybe only a metre of
water and the wave just slammed me straight down, in a really gentle innocuous way
and I hit my head really, really hard on the sand.
I had neck compaction for 2-3 months afterward.
So that was hanging in the ropes rather than sirsasana for a bit.
But its fine now.
Making sure I didn’t aggravate it but certainly hanging in the ropes staying off it for a
bit and really working to free up the thoracic below that.
With an injury in yoga rather than targeting the injury site; look at the the structure
underneath that, can you support that, what comes before. Making sure that has
enough support and pliability, if you like, in it so it’s not pulling on the injury site.
With neck injuries students can really shy away from Sirsasana and Sarvangasana.
For me with that injury it was really about time.
With Sarvanagasana I still practiced through that injury because of the freedom you
can get into the upper thoracic, the lengthening that it does for the neck.
Sarvangasana is shoulderstand not neck stand, the weight is through the shoulder
girdle, so i found that quite helpful too.
It’s never worth it for me, with an injury, not pushing through it.
Just test, how does it feel, how does it feel?
Rather than complete avoidance or straight into full blown Sirsasana again.
Qu: I’m interested what you said earlier about working with the structure underneath the injured site, are you referring to the upper back?
Even things more subtly like forward bends – as I said before I am quite tight there
anyway, it’s an area that can always do with some freeing up for me.
Iyengar talking about pranayama practice it really wasn’t until he started having a
good understanding of forward bends that his thoracic got pliable enough that he
got really get anywhere with his pranayama practice.
Even though it is not targeting that area in that there is no weight through it, or
starting with that point.
For me if I can get into my thoracic in forward bends it’s a really good extension that
you can get in that back spine.
Suzi – Are you using a head support?
Yes if I was staying with something like that for a longer time. But I would bring in the
head support last to make sure that the energy is coming from the legs, through
the base of the spine into the upper thoracic, been able to get that energetic
structure set up and then the head support will come in at any height that is
accessible.
I have a love – hate relationship with head support! Pose first, head support last.
Suzi shared a story of meeting her teacher
Bronwyn: Before you can understand what the teacher is asking you to do there has
to be a build up of understanding in your body for there to occur a frame work for you
to reference back in to.
More philosophical about the whole thing..
this is why yoga teaching has become more challenging in the last 5-10 years.
When we all started the internet wasn’t invented, no mobile phone, demands of
modern life was less.
You had all the time in the world to practice.
Our generation went into it and opened studios, because it was a viable option.
I became a teacher and opened a studio because it was the only way I could
actually practice that much.
I gave up my full time job so I would have more time for practice.
Students and trainees have more demands on their time, so the practice hours aren’t
there.
I think it does take people longer to learn, and lay down that practice reference
foundation for the teaching to come into.
Although I do have a friend/colleague who says, “what are you talking about, just get
on your mat and practice”.
Qu: Is there anything in yoga that you can do now because of surfing?
I’d like to say yoga makes everything else better, but everything else you
do physically makes yoga worse.
Running or surfing you have to understand that there are certain parts that are going
to be impacted.
However I think one thing that has definitely improved; because I am stronger, fitter,
definitely in the upper body, things like chaturanga, jumps, scoops is much easier.
Arm balances, anything like that.
Most people can stand up on the surf board.
The 2 things that people have problems with, particularly later in life, are the pop up:
Where you have to push down into the board and jump your feet onto the board.
As a yogi that’s a huge advantage, because you have been doing that all your life
in jumps & surya namaskar etc
And the other thing is the paddling – people get really really tired – I think
again because we have all those aspects in the practice, jumps and arm balances,
you’re already have the huge advantage
So then it is building up the aerobic capacity around that.
For me the aerobic tiredness comes up, but the more you surf the more that builds
up, you just have to maintain it.
I really enjoy the challenge of it.
When you first start yoga its really challenging physically for you.
All these things you have to learn.
I feel like that with surfing there is so much to learn, and such a way to go.
I love that about it
And you can’t get ahead of yourself, like yoga, there is no end.
Just a process and it doesn’t matter how much you want to fast track or be better
there is only one way through and like yoga, that’s practice.
And definitely having the discipline and having a lifelong practice is really useful for
surfing.
You need both those things as well.
And being used to getting up early
Qu: How long have you been practicing?
I started practicing as a teenager, petered out in my 20’s, then picked it up again in
my late 20’s.
I’m actually really uncoordinated, (laugh) that’s why I have to practice yoga and
go surfing, its actually really funny.
It definitely helps me to do things where I have to connect the neural pathways.
BRONWYN RUST
Bronwyn is an Australian Level 3 Senior Certified Iyengar Yoga teacher and a registered Teacher
Trainer and Assessor with Iyengar Yoga Australia. Bron began yoga as a teenager,
is the director & principal teacher at Yogaville and a local resident of the inner North
for over 30 years. She has been teaching for more than 2 decades.
YOGAVILLE.COM.AU