The Surf Yogini

Let's be honest sometimes you don't always feel like a happy shiny person. Sometimes I find myself looking in the mirror and sighing, only to then scroll through my Instagram feed to see beautiful bendy people doing advanced yoga postures or gorgeous surfer girls wading into the sunset.  

The surfing world is rife with pictures of  lithe surfers/models which makes a pale English girl like myself want to curl up under a duvet. These beautiful people exist, of course they do and self confidence isn't about denying their existence its about cultivating a sense of worth. 

Isn't it hard to feel wonderful about yourself all of the time? Isn't it an everyday battle of ignoring someone else's ideals in magazines and just finding comfort in yourself? Confidence is a barometer which goes up and down depending on internal and external factors, we control that scale.  

Recently Surfgirl magazine raised the question about wearing make up in the water which was met with a deluge of abuse. I noticed that the women who criticized make up whilst surfing seemed to be the the ones who didn't wear make up at all, mostly because they appeared to have even, beautiful complexions. I understood their criticism, the ocean isn't a fashion show its a place for natural beauty and self acceptance. What I feel was massively overlooked however, was that some women (myself included), have skin problems which make us feel horribly self conscious. A tiny bit of make up is the difference between going out and feeling awful or helping yourself stop thinking about your skin by blurring the imperfections. In the same way we chose to wear clothes which make us feel good, make up is an accessory to life, not essential but great all the same. 

The collage at the start of this post is me doing yoga in a Newcastle Premier Inn on the way back from Scotland, I'm not looking particularly glamorous neither am I doing advanced postures, just a few foundation moves to get my mind and body back in balance. 
Make up and coiffing your outward appearance are surface things which can bring you temporary confidence, but real, enduring confidence comes from appreciating yourself through mindfulness. It sounds cringe but you have to consciously chose to think positively about yourself. 

Beautiful surf yogis go and do your beautiful thing! 

Stay strong, surf well 
Love