How I fell in love with Yoga

Namaste! I'm Mari Angie, passionate Surfer, Yoga practitioner and student. And I want to tell you the story of my connection between Surf and Yoga.

Surf came into my life in 1997. I was 23 years old at the time.

One day, I was siting on  the beach watching my  friends surfing,  and suddenly I felt the huge desire to do the same. So I got a board and started going to the beach every weekend.

At that time I was an engineer from 8am to 5pm in Panama City.

And every expected Friday at 5pm; to get out of town and go to the beach.

With the waves my life made sense.  I was just happy and I didn't need anything else.

My board, the waves and me!

And I spend my life for some years like that:

Surfing on weekends, walks on the beaches with my dogs and my boyfriend, parties, barbecues with lots of meat , sex, drugs and rock & roll.

AND THEN THE YOGA CAME INTO MY LIFE

From Engineering to Yoga Instructor

But how was that?

"The traffic, the work and the fast pace of the city made me mad"

I had to be in the city the whole week.

And I had to deal with the traffic on the streets and my boss in the office.

So one day I went to a yoga class to see if that can helped me understand the meaning of my life when I wasn't surfing.

That was in the year 2000, to be exact, May 2000.

I remember it well because in July of that same year I was planning my vacation and I was going to do Camping in Playa Venao for 2 weeks of full Surf.

And I loved my first Yoga class!

Even though I arrived late because of my Boss... that just when I was leaving for class, he made up a meeting.

But, I did it, and I arrived to the  class ... late, but I arrived, and I did the relaxation part at the end of the class.

And that was what I needed, because everything that happens, happens at the right time, and in the right way.

And I know that now, not  that day… that  day  I was sending my boss to the h…

Anyway, that day I  met Professor Quezada, my Yoga teacher.

And then, what happened next?

Well, everything just click on me, like Surf.

YOGA GAVE ME ANSWERS

Yoga gave me the answers to all the questions I had at the time.

I loved the exercises, I felt that we worked everything: from the tongue, the eyes, the arms, the legs, the abdomen. EVERYTHING!

I had practiced Taekwondo, Ballet and Swimming for several years and had never felt such a complete integration in a training as in Yoga.

And I started religiously to do Yoga 3 times a week, every week until the date of my expected surfing  vacations.

And was then that I realized.

I was In Playa Venao, in the Pacific Ocean, with huge waves, and I was always at the top of  point, I did not get tired, I caught all the waves, even more than my boyfriend of that time, and even more than many of the locals... How is this happened?

My endurance increased 200%, my breathing capacity expanded and my movements were lighter, it was not difficult for me to paddle to the waves and catch them, one after another.

I was surprised, it was wonderful. And I said: “if this is going to make me continue surfing like this, I will practice yoga forever! "

And well, 20 years have passed since then, I'm not 26 anymore, now I'm 46, but my love for yoga and surfing is only getting bigger. 

I belive I will surf and do yoga for as long as I can breathe on this planet.

SURFING CONNECTED ME WITH THE FORCES OF NATURE

Surfing connected me with the natural forces of the planet, the water, the waves.  I learn  to enjoy without controlling, to simply become one with the wave and the energy of the sea, to  absorb it and love it.

It is clear to me that every time I surf a wave, I absorb its energy and become one.

And something like this happened with Yoga too.

Surfing and Yoga gave me the Power

To activate the will power to change and accept

In 2002 I quit my job as an Engineer and opened my first Yoga Studio in Panama, with the help of my teacher, Prof. Quezada.

My teacher were always by my side supporting me, although I was a stubborn rebel at that time.

My teacher was very patient with me and helped me grow, he never told me what to do, but he was always an example, in his actions and words.

I don’t have him near by now.

And many things have changed in my life since then.

I don’t  have the same partner.

I don’t  have the same dogs.

I don't live in the same house anymore.

I don´t eat meat, now I am a vegetarian.

I don’t use any drugs.

I am no longer an engineer, now I teach Yoga, Air Yoga and Aqua Yoga.

But there is something that has not changed in my life, something that has been a constant, and it is what makes me happy, what makes me find what I am: Yoga and Surf.

By the way, I will like to invite you to try my on line virtual Yoga Classes for free. Just visit the website www.oceanairyoga.com and register for a free class.

Is my  biggest wish, that you too,  find what full fill your life and makes you happy.

NAMASTE.