What Actually is Stoke

Morning Everyone,

Today, I've been thinking about the Stoke. The reason behind why we all surf. For it is surfing, that gives us the stoke. So, what exactly is the stoke, what does it do, and more importantly, how can we make it even wilder?

The stoke is a feeling of joy. But, interestingly enough, the feeling of joy is not really felt in the mind, as we tend to think so many of our emotions are, instead, it is felt, in the body. Which, is why surfing hones the stoke to such perfection.

You see, deep within each of the cells of our body, there is energy. This energy, the Chinese call Chi. And, it is learning to harness and harmonize with this energy what chi gung is all about, and, therefore, what stoke is all about.

When we feel joy, we have endorphins released within our cells. These account for the joyful or happy feeling we all experience as we ride our boards. These endorphins flow into the spaces in our nervous system called synaptic gaps. And it is with this movement of energy or chi, that chi gung (also qigong) focuses. In the  West, we tend to focus on a given thing, such as, my heart feels happy. But in the East, that is to say, in China, we tend to focus on the pathway, on the movement, and, it is because of this focus on the movement, that chi gung and surfing are linked for it is the movement that takes place within us as we surf that gives us such bodacious feelings of happiness.

As our chi flows stronger, our stoke becomes stronger, and, physiologically, what happens is that our metabolism increases (yep, being stoked helps us get ripped and shredded surfer's bodies ), and our breathing patterns increase as we get more excited. Both respiration and metabolism, are, of course, linked. This then increases our feelings of joy which in turn increases our health and our ability to heal from injuries. Thus, surfers in general, at least, the truly stoked ones, tend to have beautiful bodies and are healthy and free from injuries.  A good thing, that.

So, how do we get more stoke? By surfing of course. By surfing with more awarenss, more feeling, more, bodaciousness.

The more present we are when we surf, the stronger our stoke will be.  And, the stronger our stoke is, the more present we are. Likewise, as our stoke increases, so does our health and our hot bodies, and with that, our stoke increases. It's all a cyclical kind of thing. Like, a perfect tube. It's funny if you think about it but the analogy of a tube is perfect for how our stoke increases. It becomes that which it is. A tube is a tube, because, it is a tube. And, stoke is stoke, because, it is stoke.

Which may be why  we all love tubes so much. They are where we can meditate and truly find ourselves, for when we are in the green room, we are present. Or, we wipe out.

Ride tubes. Be present. Embrace the stoke. And breathe.  Breathe slowly, softly, gracefully, gently, and beautifully. Breathe, with style. And your stoke will soar.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley