Here’s why:

Firstly and most literally, many muscle groups recruited are similar (standing up on the board is basically a reverse Sun Salutation A).

Second, there’s the connection of the breath to the movement.

But also this:

Most surfers aren’t professionals. They aren’t sponsored, chasing the best surf around the world, seeking the 100 foot wave in Nazaré. They’re people with obligations, with jobs, with families and friends and pets. And to support their ability to show up in all of those other parts of their life, they’ve found this space where they reconnect to themselves, to the elements, and to the people on the boards beside them. They get the fuck out there — early in the morning, before the sun goes down at night — and they surf it.

Surfers are not seeking as many waves as possible -- they're individually chasing what are known as set waves. Set waves deliver a surfer's "flow state," where the joyful power of surfing can be found.

And that’s what I want each of us to find: our own set wave, discovered through those moments in our lives where we can leave behind the struggle, get perspective from the stress, and a break from the hustle. And when we find them, we’re going to have the courage to rise up and surf it.