Thursday, May 14, 2009

One of My Favorite Shots


Do you know where this is? You do even if you don't think so.  The day of that huge swell of 2005 I was out taking a few shots and came across this view. Although there were 80 guys out 200 yards away this wave went unridden set after set. It's hard to tell but that wave is 15 foot plus.  

Breathe and Improve Your Surfing

Before

After

Last year some time a good friend of mine Karen Winter asked me if I wanted to come to a class she does called Breath Work. The class is hard to explain. It's a mix between slumber party, meditation and work out.  You don't do anything physical (you hang out under some blankets) but you do breath... A LOT. It gives you that same sort of buzz as yoga does but without all the side effects... see the Yoga No, No's at the the Collectic Life

I'm usually not a fan of anything that remotely involves a class but she told me I'd be OK and that it would be very good for me.  She said it was more of a spiritual experience then anything else.  

A spiritual experience I thought?  Humm. Living in Leucadia I like to think I'm down with the original locals, the ones that settled here in 1870 and danced in white robes in the Leucadia Park. (See the Leucadia Blog for details www.theleucadiablog.com) Trying to keep the Leucadia spirit alive I decided that I should give it a try.

Well... try it I did. I've lost count but I think I've gone to this class about 50 times. Turns out, Breath Work has a very interesting side effect. It helps my surfing!  Is there a better reason to go? 

I got so stoked on this that I started to drag my friends there.  Turns out that the process of this class just makes you feel better (stoked like crazy day in and day out) , helps your lung capacity (paddle better, hold your breath longer). It lightens your emotional baggage (hit the water feeling free and get into the session quicker. No time wasted working through your bad day before entering that stoke zone.) I even found that it improved my focus and balance. (Pulled more off the tops. Chris Miller knows I fall A LOT on those.)

The phenomenon of this side effect is one that has been shared by my friends.  I started to have so many come that we got our own Leucadia Project night.  The ones that keep coming back have had some interesting results. My buddy Bob has even noticed that it helps his golf. The next day after class he shot a 78 and beat his buddies. He became a regular after that.

If you want to try this out for yourself let me know. So far everyone I've brought has been blow away. Check out Karen's website for details.  www.ibelieveinbreath.com 


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