The spine is the highway connecting the brain to the body and is home to our spiritual centers, the chakras. It has 76 joints and 24 bones. It’s a big deal. Stretching to maintain a well-oiled spine is vital because it helps to keep the body mobile and fluid (and ready to surf).
The spine is a big deal
So, we’re stoked that we have another opportunity to practice Yin Yoga and get our spines movin’ with SWA’s resident yogi-surfer, Reesie! In this class, “…we’ll bend forward then backward then forward then backward and top if off with a twist”.
Grab one block and a few pillows (or a bolster if you have one), then click the video below to dive in!
Donations for Reesie’s online Yin Yoga classes are being accepted at Venmo – @cherise-richards or paypal – reesier@yahoo.com
Feeling neck tension from sitting at your desk all day? Or from a long surf-session? Woke up on the wrong side of the bed? Need a little yoga fix-me-up?
block. neck. magic.
It’s the most requested yoga sequence during most of our retreats, and if you’ve been on a retreat with SWA before, I’m sure you already know exactly what we’re talking about! Its simple. Its magical. It feels so good. Its also pretty difficult to replicate without the guidance of a teacher, so we’re extra stoked that our yoga teacher Reesie just released an 11-minute tutorial video of the infamous, “block neck move”. This stretch-massage duo for the neck has yet to be named, so try it out and let us know if you can come up with a good name for it!
Reesie’s online Yin Yoga classes are open for optional donation. Her info is as follows- Venmo: Cherise-Richards or PayPal: reesier@yahoo.com
To learn more about Cherise Richards, our head yoga instructor here at SWA, click here.
We’ll admit that we were hesitant to put out a fundraiser in the first place, knowing that so many of us are struggling financially, but we also realized it wouldn’t hurt to try and see what happens. We’re extremely excited about the success of the fundraiser and how the SWA community has come together to support these deserving folks that we all know and love. However, we’re not surprised that you all rallied to show your support- the SWA community is full of big hearts and the best surf ladies out there.
Hotel Staff (and their surf instructors)
We want to give a BIG thank you to everyone who has been able to donate, and another thank you to everyone who is holding this special group of people in your hearts! If you’re interested in reading the story that inspired this fundraiser or interested in donating, please click here.
Here are some highlights from our very first retreat fully taking over the Longboard Surf House in Southern Costa Rica for what had planned to be the whole season. We had an awesome group of 12 ladies of all ages from early 20s to 50s! This was the last retreat that we were able to run before the COVID-19 situation closed borders and had us all sheltering in place. It’s awesome to look back on a sunny, surf-filled happy time with friends and dream of the time we’ll be able to enjoy this sort of thing!
This duck dive-inspired yoga sequence is easy to do at home! Many of the same muscles engaged during a duck dive are also engaged during a simple vinyasa flow.
This simple yoga exercise aims to address three parts of the duck dive:
Core Strength
Arm Strength
Balance
Add this sequence to your daily practice to help commit these duck dive movements into muscle memory, so that once you hit the water to surf your duck dive will feel natural and strong.
One of our newest surf instructors, Florida grom Jazmine Dean, just spent her first season working retreats and adventuring with the Surf With Amigas crew down in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. She created this super rad little surf film and just released it last week! Enjoy the film and a note from Jaz below-
Surf with amigas x Jazmine
Pura Vida!
My life changed in the season I spent down here as a first time Surf With Amigas instructor just as much as Amigas often say their lives change during retreats. I’m currently still down in Southern Costa Rica and I’ve spent more consecutive months living here than I have spent living in any other foreign country before. I spend my free days in-between retreats almost the same as I spend my, “work”, days during retreats, and most of my closest friends down here were formed through the connections and roots that SWA has created here in the local community.
This film barely scratches the surface of how this life has reconnected me to my roots as a soul surfer and the good times had. I understand surfing and have for a long time, but these retreats are just as much about personal growth as they are about surfing a wave, and for that, I thank the guests, our Amigas, so much.
I’m most grateful of all for the women I’ve met through the retreats and I took a little from each person I spent time with. It’s possible that some of you reading this were on some of the retreats I worked at and maybe even appear in a scene or two! Anyways, please enjoy the film and thanks for watching.
An Amiga who joined us at a recent Southern Costa Rica Jungle Retreat took home the footage and edited it into this awesome video. We usually do the edits ourselves, so it is really cool to see the experience purely from the perspective of one our guests. Here’s what it looked like last week in Costa Rica!
We are gearing up for one of our favorite retreats of the season, the Advanced Tube Riding Clinic in North Nicaragua! Here’s a highlight from Holly surfing the beach break from our most recent tube riding clinic.
At these retreats our goal will be to help you develop the skills needed to get your first tube ride. We’ll be getting up early and paddling out at sunrise, then coming in for breakfast, and paddling out again! If the tide and wind are good, we’ll surf four or five hours per day. This retreat is about surfing our brains out!
Surf With Amigas has been sponsoring the Waves of Hope sea turtle conservation program since 2012. We just committed to another year doing our part to give back by supporting the program that buys baby sea turtle eggs from poachers turned conservationists to ensure there will be turtles in the lineup for years to come!
See below for the video we made way back in 2012 in our first year of the project. All the info is the same! If you’d like to participate in the release of baby turtles, join us for a retreat in Nicaragua.
Surf With Amigas surf and yoga teacher Cherise Richards takes us through some exercises and stretches that will help you prepare for your trip. Strengthen arms, core, legs, and back, then stretch them out to increase mobility so you’ll be more prepared to perform your best on day 1 of your retreat. Keep this program going after your trip to stay in shape back in the “real world” too! Check out the video!
