Artwork: Gemma Stokes.
FIND
YOUR
FLOW // NO
/ PLASTIC / //
PLEASE
BIG SPRING B E A C H C L E A N //...ENJOY ISSUE #34
MARCH 2016
Hello Sliders! A few more stories to inspire. From some guidance in achieving ‘flow’ in and out of the water, to information on how to get involved with Spring Beach Cleans and begin to show your Oceans and coastlines even more LOVE. Remember - we always welcome submissions for following issues - email us at : theslideshow.mag@gmail.com - Editor -Gemma Stokes.
Photo: Kit Stokes.
THE FIELDS OF QUEBRADA NOVA.
Achadas de Cruz, Porto Moniz, Madeira.
The Fields of Quebrada Nova. Descent. Shots from our January trip to Madeira. Where in the world have you been recently? Send us your snaps of sliding adventure! Email: theslideshow.mag@gmail.com
Photos: Kit Stokes.
Flow Find your
Life can be crazy. Sometimes you need to stop and listen, check in with yourself and re-align if needed - so that you can joyfully dive back in!
When I first started joining yoga classes,
So I understood that being in flow was
I felt overwhelmed with the word “flow”.
something that was inherently good and that
Classes were called “Morning Flow” or
everyone wanted a piece of it. And it does
“Vinyasa Flow”, teachers in class said it
feel good! I can feel it in asana practice
all the time - “relax and just go with the
when I allow my breath to take over and
flow”, and even the girl on the mat next to
guide me through my movements. When
me wore a bracelet with silver letters that
you breathe into a contracted, tight part of
spelled out “F-L-O-W.”
your body, you can literally feel how you can
Photo: AndrĂŠ Spee.
bring that part back into “flow” when alignment and breath work as a team. Many years later however, as a more seasoned yoga practitioner and teacher thereof, I still find myself analysing its definition. During times when spiritual guidance is available at our fingertips, and especially as a yoga teacher, I almost feel a pressure of “having to” have my life in a state of blissful flow. If it isn’t, I must somehow be misaligned. I must be doing something wrong.
Flow Find your
photo:
Flow Find your
It wasn’t until more recent years when
surfers use the way nature moves and
I learned how to surf that I began to
align their bodies: we use the duck dive as
understand the full meaning of what the
a technique to literally step into the flow of
yoga world was talking about.
the wave to smoothly come back up on the other side.
When we go out and surf, every situation teaches us how to be in flow. Every surfer
This is exactly my approach with my
probably remembers a moment when trying
Ocean & Yoga Retreats. The tools that I
to paddle out, willingly or non-willingly
am teaching during the yoga practice are
ignoring the fact that you are stuck against
meant to be applied to life in order to create
a current or incoming sets, and that you are
an experience of being in unity with your
simply wasting your energy. The bigger flow
surroundings, nature, your families, partners
of nature will always win. Surrender. And
and friends. I want to offer a space and tools
really, all you have to do is to get to know
to anyone who feels that they need a “time-
the nature of things and work with it. See if
out”, a moment to step aside and breathe
the force can pull you into a zone of lesser
and possibly re-align – or even change
impact where you can step aside, take a
perspective on a grand scale.
breath and observe the situation. Find a new angle - perhaps the rip a little further
Since nature is an amazing teacher on
down from where you are standing right
the path of recognizing the flow, I chose to
now will take you to exactly where you want
work with Fernando and Eva, an adorable
to be: out in the line up and ready to play!
Portuguese/Czech couple, to host my retreats at their beautiful, organic farm in a
If you look at the anatomy of a wave, you’ll
valley close to Aljezur, Southern Portugal.
recognize that it has a circular form: the
They grow delicious veggies, fruit and
visible part that we usually describe as “a
herbs, live by the seasons and set a good
wave” that pushes water forward and down
example of living attuned with nature. Join
when breaking. And then there is the lower
us for a week of exploring “the flow” in and
part of the wave, non-visible because the
out of the water, on and off the yoga mat.
circular movement continues underwater. Here, the water actually flows down and
Words by Jana Toepfer, Portugal.
back up. This is another example of how
photo:
Early bird rates still apply for Ocean & Yoga’s Summer Camps July 16-22 & September 3-9. Also check out Jana’s special workshop “The Art of Breath & Meditation for Surfers” April 17-23, for surfers who want to get into the flow with their surfing and surrounding nature. Registration & further info: www.oceanandyoga.com
Photo:Nadine Binias
Jana is originally from the North Coast of Germany. Mainly influenced by years of practicing Anusara Yoga and completing her teacher trainings (RYT 200) in this style, she makes yoga very accessible and playful at any level. She has taught yoga in various studios in Berlin, Bali and Costa Rica, and now teaches and hosts retreats in her chosen home base in the South of Portugal to share her passion for surfing and the beauty of nature and the ocean.
No plastic
please Sunday afternoon we drove down to the beach, I thought I’d at least check if there was a wave for me, but on arrival I wasn’t too inspired. My husband on the other hand spotted a punchy peak that showed promise, so he suited and booted, while I piled on layers of snug clothing and strolled round to the Blue Bar to grab a takeaway coffee. Sitting on the rocks at the side of the beach, I let the welcome February sun wash over my face while I drank my flat white and observed the goings-on on Porthtowan beach. A handful of surfers in the line up, a few dog walkers, families with their kids running wild and free, and a few sat just like me, lapping up gentle rays of sun on their faces. I noticed the strand line along the top of the beach, where the last tide had left a swathe of flotsam and jetsam. I thought I would take a wander to see if I could find anything interesting that might have washed up. On closer inspection, I noticed a rainbow of colours amongst the twigs, seaweed, pebbles and shells. Plastics. Largely, this multitude of colourful artifacts were plastic based. Kneeling down amongst it, I could see the next level of plastic pieces, hundreds upon hundreds of tiny pellet sized (or nurdles, preproduction microplastic resin pellets typically 5mm and under). Just when you think it’s bad enough, seeing these little pellets
Photo: Gemma Stokes.
No plastic
please
puts the whole problem on another level. I
transported to save the future of our
sat there looking, and trying to comprehend
oceans.
how much of this stuff must actually be in the ocean. And how many sea creatures
Surfers Against Sewage’s Marine Litter
mistake it for food. These microplastics also
Report, makes for extremely interesting yet
very good at absorbing and concentrating
alarming reading. Find it here:
toxins, which in turn end up hurting sea life
www.sas.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/SAS-
and also entering our own food chain.
Marine-Litter-Report-Med.pdf
Things must change. Our habits must change. Find out how you can help by
Read on to find out about SAS Big Spring
making small changes that will make a big
Beach Cleans and how you can get
difference, and also how organisation like
involved with one near you or indeed how to
SAS are lobbying to make BIG changes
organise one.
on how plastics are used, handled and Words by Gemma Stokes, Cornwall, UK.
Photo: Gemma Stokes.
“Surfers Against Sewage is delighted to be collaborating with Parley For the Oceans, and engaging communities with projects to stop the flow of plastic into our seas. The single-use plastic vandalism of our coastlines has to stop and plastics valued as a resource we can’t afford to let accumulate in the marine environment.”
Hugo Tagholm, Chief Executive of Surfers Against Sewage
“Current plastic is a design failure. It needs to go. But this can’t happen overnight. We need to avoid plastic wherever we can, stop producing more of it, and retrieve and revive what has already ended up in nature. But to solve the problem for good, we have to invent a new material. Collaboration is the magic formula, because nobody can solve this complex problem alone. With Surfers Against Sewage, we found the impactful partner we need. Together we can turn this around.” Cyrill Gutsch, Founder of Parley for the Oceans
All information courtesy of Surfers Against Sewage or sourced from www.sas.org.uk
REGISTER YOUR FAVOURITE BEACH TODAY! Storm Imogen recently swept through the UK, battering the coastline with gale force winds and colossal waves; dumping tonnes of marine litter along the coastline. Marine litter is now one of the biggest threats to the health and sustainability of our marine ecosystem. A recent report predicts that there will be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050(1). Every day approximately 8 million pieces of marine litter find their way into our oceans causing the death of 1 million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals annually(2). Community beach cleans play a vital part in tackling the marine litter crisis with recent research demonstrating that removing plastic waste along our coastline is the most effective clean-up method(3). Plastic waste
collected or intercepted along the coastline is now also being viewed as a vital resource that society can’t afford to waste. The Big Spring Beach Clean is the biggest single community beach clean effort in the UK, uniting 7,000 grassroots volunteers to tackle the marine litter crisis in over 200 locations across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Surfers Against Sewage is now calling for community volunteers to join the Big Spring Beach Clean team. Register your beach today by emailing beachcleans@sas.org. uk with the forms found here. For a list of registered cleans in your area, visit the Events Page of the website.
www.sas.org.uk/events 1 – The Guardian, 2016; http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jan/19/more-plastic-than-fish-in-the-sea-by-2050-warns-ellen-macarthur 2 – Surfers Against Sewage Marine Litter Report (2014) – http://www.sas.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/SAS-Marine-Litter-Report-Med.pdf 3 – The Guardian, 2016; http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jan/19/collecting-plastic-waste-near-coasts-is-most-effective-clean-up-method?CMP=share_btn_fb [online]
Cornwall, UK. Sunday afternoon sunshine and waves. Cornwall taking a leap towards Spring glory. Send us your snaps from your local spots! Email: theslideshow.mag@gmail.com
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