By Rosie Markwick, Summersalt yoga teacher

It is not new news that a lot of humans feel naturally compelled towards the water. Water has been used throughout time and across cultures to cleanse and purify. To celebrate and to exercise. Civilizations have been built around it. And we drive, walk, run, and fly to get to it.

As a lifelong water lover, I know the feeling well. I can spend far longer than I could do anywhere else sitting in silence if I am watching waves rolling in. I know that a sure-fire way to soothe an anxious and busy mind is to get myself in a pool and swim. And it is perhaps no surprise that my work has taken me to be a SUP yoga teacher and SUP instructor.

In this work in particular, I hear and see the positive effects people feel on the water all the time. In the middle of a city like London, I have clients who arrive to paddleboarding sessions nervous or quiet or perhaps a little tense and so often they leave noticeably relaxed, more steady and brighter. And I believe this can be accredited to more than just the natural confidence that occurs after doing something new and different. The conversations that seem to be inspired when out on the water never cease to happily surprise me. They are often more open and honest than usual or certainly become so more quickly than when say, over a coffee or a walk.

This is just one example of the positive effect of water of many but all adhere to the same point; for a lot of people, water does really good things. And as I notice this connection more, I am becoming increasingly fascinated with the why. Why do so many of us like being in, on, and around water so much?

I am sure (and hope) I am just at the beginning of this understanding but so far my research has highlighted these two particularly interesting ideas.

Firstly, water (and make note this is being in, on OR just near) stimulates the production of Relaxin and Serotonin, the hormones responsible for relaxation and happiness respectively. We are quite literally on a cognitive biology level soothed and contented by water.

Wallace J Nichols, calls this a ‘Blue Mind’, as he puts it in his book on the topic, this is “a mildly meditative state characterized by calm, peacefulness, unity, and a sense of general happiness and satisfaction with life in the moment” — that’s triggered when we’re in or near water. ‘We are beginning to learn that our brains are hardwired to react positively to water and that being near it can calm and connect us, increase innovation and insight, and even heal what’s broken’

Secondly, is the transpersonal psychology explanation, which I think is accountable for a lot of what I see in my SUP sessions. Water is a force of and an example of nature. There is a mystery and a very naturalness of water. Transpersonal therapy states that the act of doing something a little out of our physical comfort zone in nature or, experiencing the perspective relative smallness of us in nature and then noticing we actually feel comfortable even so, ignites a feedback mechanism that says; if I can do this, what else can I overcome?

Our experience of this ‘aliveness’ becomes a useful tool of healing and self-development, of confidence and assertiveness and peace. Wilderness therapy has for a while been acknowledged as effective and I would suggest that this line of argument could extend more specifically to water-based activities as well. SUP and SUP yoga offering perhaps the perfect example.

So if you are a self-realized water baby already, know there are real reasons why! And if you are not so sure yet, go and see how being on the water makes you feel, with this perspective perhaps in mind.

Wallace J Nichols’s book “Blue Mind” explains why we love being by the water so much!

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By Milda Urban, Summersalt Yoga founder

The physical benefits of yoga are quite well known by anyone who has taken at least a couple of classes (yes, the first class may be discouraging, because THE STIFFNESS, but we all know the goods are coming).

But for, me it’s not just the flexible (-rer) spine or the fact that I can climb a few stairs more without losing breath that keeps me practicing. It’s the side (our actually – the main) bonuses that I reap from living yoga as much as I can in the last few years.

Here are 5 things I’ve learned through yoga

Self-awareness. Probably like most people and especially those walking the usual path of idolizing perfection, achievement of certain set of goals and not losing a moment of “important life experiences” I was actually quite stuck up in my little mind and focusing on just those tasks (with lots of micromanagement!) rather than on how I feel about them, do they actually fulfill me, what is it that I REALLY want and what makes me happy every day and in the grand scheme of things. Only when I stopped (with the help of yoga) and listened I became so much more self-aware, much more in tune of what TRULY matters to ME and I am not talking only about career or work, but the whole picture.

This could not be achieved without gaining better control and understanding of my emotions. As someone who’s always been quite reactive, I’ve learned that it’s okay to feel anger, sadness, anxiety and all the other adjacent emotions without letting them take control of me. Once I identify what’s going on – the negative emotions loose half or more of their power, do not affect my day to day life in general and just pass by like anything else in life. I like to call this the identification of Ego. Is this my ego talking? Am I angry, because my ego was hurt, am I anxious, because my ego is scared? Once you separate the ego from the actual you – voila, best conscious uncoupling example ever!

Gratitude. I am not sure I’m really feeling this word as it’s been so overused, but it does not change the fact that learning gratitude was one of the most important things I’ve learned through yoga. Gratitude for what I have (not only material goods) and for what I am able and capable to have. Again, like many people and like many of our cultures, for a long time my goal was to get MORE – more experiences, more achievements (in work and life), more check’s on the to-do list (self-inflicted list, may I add). But once I figured out that I already have so much and started applying the philosophy that I will still be happy and content whether I check that item of that list or not – a huge burden was taken off of my shoulders.

One of the more humbling effects of the yoga practice was finding the deeper connection to the world. I’m not talking about just meeting all kinds of wonderful people and learning from them, but also feeling connected to the world in a way that minimizes your ego by a ton. Realizing that we’re ALL in this together helps to wave away the very selfish focus on only yourself and your problems, it only makes you feel somehow better by knowing that we all have the same needs, desires, dreams, and issues. None of us are the center of the universe and the sooner more people realized the sooner many of the world’s problems will go away.

The last point is an all-encompassing one. Through yoga, I’m able to achieve a general mental lightness that I’ve had so much trouble finding before. I am going through life with a lighter step, without focusing on the negative so much, without too much pressure of how and when will achieve some imaginary goal or task, without the fear that I will miss out on something and with much more certainty that things will be OK. They definitely will.

Our favorite yoga books to dive deeper into the yoga philosophy and living yoga:

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By Milda Urban, Summersalt Yoga founder

Do you ever feel like you’re being pulled in two different directions? Or that you’re listening to two different voices in your head? One voice is very loud and it likes to call himself “the voice of reason”. The other one is silent, let’s himself be heard just sometimes, but it speaks our deepest wishes and desires. These gentlemen are The Ego and The Self.

Defined by the Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist (and father of analytical psychology) C.G.Jung Ego and Self are our consciousness and unconsciousness – defining our psyche as a union, as a whole.

To describe it briefly – Ego is the center of consciousness and the Self is a complete personality that includes consciousness, the unconscious, and the ego. The Self is both the whole and the center. You can see it in the picture below that the ego is a self-contained little center of the circle and the Self is the greater circle

Ego and Self

In our daily life, we can simplify this and call Ego our “reasonable side”, which works to keep and assemble our personality, it keeps us motivated, working, it helps us to deal with the daily grind, struggles, measurable tasks and goals in life. It protects us from the problems that the world presents and helps us create a personality that’s able and capable to deal with these challenges.

The bigger picture is our Self – someone who we really are, not just a mask, not an Ego-created personality whose task’s to deal with the threats, fears, and challenges of our lives, but a deeper, authentic and individual person.

Self can be also called our “calling” – it defines our true “purpose” and desires in life, a higher mission if you will and all of these are often not in line with what the Ego wants.

Results versus process

Our Ego wants to do, act, have, protect. It is motivating and fueled by fear – fear of not having enough, of not doing enough, of losing some kind of created identity of ours. It pushes us to work and achieve more – it says we must, have, should. The ego is motivated by anxiety. The ego identifies a “problem” and finds a “solution” no matter what it is. The ego needs results. Ego preserves itself. The ego needs external validation.

The Self wants to create, express, and fulfill itself. It wants to be. It does not need to tick of a list of achievements, to have a “diploma” to show or accomplishments to brag with. It strives in silence when the noise around is gone and everything is still. Self does not want to achieve in our daily sense, it wants to express itself, to do good for the world, the universe. Self concentrates on others. Writer Frederick Buechner describes the calling as “the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.” Self needs process.

Inside battle

Ego sometimes finds these silent words of Self disturbing, annoying, and something that needs to be eliminated in order to “achieve” or “fix a problem”.

And yes, as Ego, its anxiety and fear are a part of our Self it does affect The Self, it silences it, it dominates it and The Self is pushed away. Pushed away even deeper into our subconscious. The Self now has a chance to show up and manifest itself in our dreams or when we’re under the influence of alcohol or some substances. During these times The Ego is the one silenced and our true calling and desires come out. Just think about it – why is it that just after a couple of glasses of wine we finally find the courage to talk about “that book I’ve always wanted to write” or “the business idea that’s been in my head for years”. It’s the true Self-talking when The Ego is silenced. Please do not take this as an encouragement to drink or take drugs – these are the desperate measures and not an actual tool or treatment!!

Finally, the peak of The Ego is a burnout – total crash. The peak of Self is the fulfillment and reaching our deepest and most real desires. It’s the fulfillment and not burn out because it is your true calling and not a fake and manufactured version of it.

Please do not simplify this though. Ego is necessary for all of us to be able to function in our world and eliminating it would cause delusions, fantasies, and instabilities. However, The Self is the one that creates a deeper, more meaningful, and soulful way to be in the world. Let The Self come out and be heard.

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