Excellent stuff!!
So, lets keep moving this discussion along. A growing thread is a healthy thread.
Ocean...Soul.....Seems to be some broad agreement then, that simply connecting with the energy of the ocean, leads to an increase in the human soul and spiritual energy in a positive dimension....
...happiness!!
This has been my experience too.
The question then becomes "OK, if we like feeling this soul happiness from the sea, what is the best way to MAXIMISE that energy transfer"??
I'm still working on this one, obviously.
Two things that have really helped, for me anyway, have been Ashtanga Yoga and a mindfullness technique called "Immediate Mastery" I heard about originally from the master jazz-funk drummer Kenwood Dennard.
The yoga...well where to start......a clearer, happier mind, more strength, more flexibility, better reflexes, longer breathholding...it just goes on and on. I'm sure many of you have dabbled in Yoga and know what I mean....if you have, then maybe you have experienced benefits too....would love to hear about them!
I was at an ashtanga workshop in Cairns last year, with David Williams, who was the first westerner to go right through the 6 series of ashtanga in India with Patthabi Jois. He is now 50 something, still practices every day, lives on Maui....I was stoked to hear him say that he regards immersion in the ocean as a soul booster equally powerful to daily ashtanga practice, and recommends both on a daily basis!
Anyway, the drum thing. You might be wondering, what does this have to do with kiteboarding? Well, there are quite a few similarities....operating a fairly technically demanding piece of equipment that requires fast reflexes on all 4 limbs, skill, smoothness, precision, power, grace....one where practice can lead to an ongoing process of improvement, with no real end or pinnacle, given the huge possibilities for personal expression with the kite and with the instrument.
So Kenwood (the drummer) simply said....when you practice, or when you play in front of 1,000 people, or whenever.....you try and empty your mind of everything other than the focus on what you are doing, and play in each second, on every beat, with
immediate mastery....that idea of bringing all your energy into each passing moment.
Of course it works for anything......I play the drums, so can vouch for its worth in that setting.....but I think it has been even more benefit in my surfing, and kiting.....I move more smoothly, have fewer disastrous go-downs, seem to connect with the ocean better....
...which brings us back to topic!
I guess the interesting thing has been, that after a dawn session of ashtanga yoga, a good feed, and then getting out on the ocean with the kite and board and just being there moment by moment....even the simple act of trimming along, powered up and blazing, can deliver large lumps of soul-boost!
Island Out.
