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Samudra Surf + Yoga Retreat 4th August 2008

Written by::Anneli Knight

My goal for the week at the Samudra surf and yoga retreat in Byron Bay was to be able to stand up on a surf board and get a taste for what it’s like riding the energy of a wave. I’m usually quite good a goal-setting – of setting my aims high enough that they include a challenge, but within realistic boundaries and timeframe. But for Samudra, my goal was way off the mark.

As my airport shuttle wound its way down the steep driveway to the retreat on that Sunday morning, I had no idea that I would not only be riding my first wave in two days, but that one week later I would find myself inspired by three new passions – surfing, yoga and vitality food.

The retreat was held at the Byron Bay Manor, a grand old mansion set on 20 acres of tropical forest and banana plantation. It is about 10 minutes out of town, with an outlook over Cape Byron – adorned by its lighthouse – and the Pacific Ocean.

For seven days, seven guests at Samudra not only shared the house, we also shared the enthusiasm and expert knowledge of surf instructor Fletch, yoga teacher Mark, vitality food “kitchen fairy” Sal and photographer Sarah.

On the first Sunday night we shared our intentions for the week. The one thing we all had in common was that we wanted to learn to surf. We had varying levels of interest and experience in yoga, and curiosity about the detoxifying organic, vegetarian menu.
The schedule for the week sounded simple: sunrise yoga, breakfast, surf, lunch, break-time, sunset yoga, dinner, activity.

None of us knew how this schedule would transform from paper to practice.

We didn’t know that dragon fruit, avocado and almonds could be mixed into a heavenly-sweet-delicious pie. We didn’t know we’d be catching waves with dolphins in the sunshine. And we didn’t know how much we would laugh in an evening session of yoga towards the end of the week while our muscles were screaming in rebellion. All of these were treats that lay ahead of us.

And these treats were deftly delivered by our teachers.

Fletch, a Byron local, couldn’t stop grinning as he shared his favourite sport with us out in the waves. He’d be having so much fun you’d sometimes forget he was working, until he’d deliver a two-sentence piece of advice that would be so perfectly observed you’d experience a whoosh in your learning the moment you put it into practice. Not only did we learn the technical skills of board riding, we learnt about rips, tides, currents, waves and surf etiquette: a perfectly-rounded education.

Mark taught us to stay light-hearted as we strove for limber limbs during our Ashtanga yoga sessions. At the most painful moments of our practice, when our faces must have looked stricken from forced flexibility, he would instruct us in a calm and purposeful tone: “And now, gently lift the outer edges of your mouth upwards”. This guitar-strumming yoga teacher lives his whole life like a surf and yoga retreat – the day after he left Samudra he flew straight to Indonesia for a four month adventure chasing waves in Bali, Sumatra and the Mentawais.

Sal our “kitchen fairy” literally lives her life as a retreat: in a centre up in the Byron Bay hinterland. Sal took us on a culinary journey through macrobiotic, Ayurvedic, organic, vegan and raw foods. After meticulous preparation and with beautiful presentation, Sal would theatrically introduce us to each dish with a story about its key ingredients and the roles they played in health, digestion and bodily balance. Every single meal was delicious, and if I had to pick a favourite it would be the cacao and cashew raw food ice-cream.

Samudra is a challenge, but it is also a retreat. We were physically stretched, both with increased flexibility and the energy levels we were calling upon to maintain several hours of intense exercise on the yoga mat and the surf board every day. Successive days of physical exhaustion can have an unusual effect on your mind. While the technical left brain is focussed on mastering new skills, the creative right brain has a chance to sneak away and go skipping in the sunshine and splashing in the waves – and when it comes back it is refreshed and full of new ideas and plans and attitudes and resolutions. In those moments of quiet retreat during the week, these two sides of the brain could settle down for a catch-up – with inspiring results.

When the shuttle came to collect me, seven days later, I was exhausted and elated. My shoulders felt light from all the knots I’d stretched out during yoga, my stomach felt light from a week of wholesome, delicious vitality food. And, I was so encouraged by my surfing progress, with big plans for the future, that I left Byron Bay as the proud new owner of a quad fish 6’4” Brett Munro surfboard.

Anneli Knight was a guest of Samudra: www.samudra.com.au

Other Samudra surf + yoga retreats

Byron Bay is the perfect place for a beginners’ surf retreat because there’s usually somewhere that you can find a “friendly” wave.

But Samudra is not just for learner surfers, they hold retreats in some of the world’s most challenging surf destinations, including West Australia and Indonesia. And for something somewhere in between – the next Samudra retreat is in the Maldives. The mechanical, predictable waves in this tropical paradise are perfect for intermediate and advanced surfers wanting to improve their style. The reef breaks in the area deliver consistently quality waves so you can spend your time working on technique rather than picking yourself off the reef.

The Samudra Maldives retreat will run from 18 to 29 October and if you’re keen, get to it because bookings need to be finalised by the end of this month.
http://www.samudra.com.au/page10.aspx

And if you want to know what the waves look like in the Maldives, just check out some of Uge’s most recent pics!