My doctor suggested surgery. I learned to surf.

yoga in valencia

A year ago, I sat in the doctor’s office looking over scans of a herniated disc in my lumbar spine. I had been living in chronic pain, had lost a lot of my strength and had to stop exercising. Teaching yoga had become a struggle for me, physically. The doctor was scheduling me an appointment to cauterize a nerve in my back and prepare me for surgery. Something told me to say, “no”. Even though I was desperate for a solution and to stop the pain, I had a feeling that surgery wasn’t the answer. I set a goal instead. I decided to do whatever it took, for one year, to rehabilitate my back and get my strength back. I was ready to invest in myself, my health and more importantly, my future. I started some physical therapy. I found the incredible massage therapist @allivio_massage_valencia who helped to alleviate tension and pain. I started reformer pilates three days a week at @pranapilatesreformer. Little by little, I could walk more. Move more. Sleep better. Teach yoga without being in pain. Dance.

One year ago, I told some friends that I wanted to learn to surf. That I wanted to work really hard over the course of the next year in order to take a surfing lesson during our yoga retreat in Portugal in July 2024. I think some people thought I was crazy. Silly. Too old. Not strong enough. Delusional, maybe. But during every pilates class, I visualized myself getting strong enough to push myself up and stand up on a surf board.

We built excitement in our retreat group during the year and as the date approached, my intention was to simply enjoy it. I believed in myself, but more than anything, I wanted to enjoy the moment with these incredible women, try something new together and if nothing else – laugh.

As I was pushed out on that first wave, I didn’t overthink it. I trusted my body to do what it needed to do. And I stood up. I rode the wave. It was exciting, exhilarating, emotional. I had done it. I had worked hard to heal myself and I was so, so proud. Thank you to these amazing women, my fellow surfer girls, for the love and support.