Diving and Yoga. A strange combination? Perhaps, but as a yoga teacher and a scuba diving instructor the hills and beaches of Bali weave together my philosophies of Life and Work in a playful colourful pranic web of relaxing exploration.
Living in Ubud provides an incredible opportunity for both the curious and committed to fully submerge themselves in yoga. Studios such as the Yoga Barn, Intuitive Flow and even the Arma museum, are all beautiful spaces dedicated to providing a range of styles for a range of abilities. In the past week alone I have opened up more my traditional ‘yang’ Ashtanga practice to the energetic flows and passive stretches in my first Yin Yoga class. I have collapsed into various asanas (poses) with the aid of padded props and allowed myself to be guided through restorative yoga classes and then float through meditation sessions reverberating with the vibrations of Tibetan singing bowls. My stamina has been tested while dancing through various styles of Vinyasa flow, while kriya breathing techniques left me echoing the shouts of our ancestors and igniting the Fire deep within my core. I have even ‘flown’ for the first time while suspended on the feet of an acrobatically inclined yogini. Then on my rest day, I have jumped on a bike and sped over to the coast, through the lush green rice paddies and market towns to the waiting ocean at Tulamben.
Although Bali’s sea’s are more famous for their surf than they are for their scuba diving, diving on the east coast of Bali is incredible. The soft corals are in fantastic condition, despite their proximately to the shore (which means increased waste water and human activity). Similarly, despite the massive tourist industry (which artificially inflates local demand on fish stocks), both pelagic and reef fish are abundant. In a mini- mirror of the line of hire surfboards which frame Kuta’s sands, scuba tanks line the beach at Tulamben, while the star of the shore lays underneath the surf.
In a previous life, the USAT Liberty Glo was an American armed cargo ship which had the misfortune to be torpedoed near Lombok by a Japanese submarine in 1942 during WW2. Luckily for the crew, Liberty was towed to Tulamben where she rested until the mighty Gunung Agung reminded all of its powerful presence and blew its top in 1963 and the salvaged vessel rolled to its final resting place underneath the sea. Forty six years later she lays as a perfect example of how weapons of death and destruction need not pollute or poison the environment: Liberty has been reclaimed by the lungs of the ocean, as corals cover its decaying body, transforming her into a superb world class (and technically) artificial reef. Laying between 3 and 30 meters on the black volcanic sand, the wreck is now a microcosm of the wider marine ecosystems, housing everything from minuscule pygmy seahorses to massive napoleon wrasses.
Swimming past layers of soft corals, padded with colorful anemones and decorated with a stunning variety of tube worms, the iron canon which rests beneath is creatively camouflaged. Overhead the ‘cave’ of the hull drips with giant gorgonian sea fans, its rusting corners filled with huge groupers and darting shrimps. Tipping onto my head with a flick of my fins, it is possible to spy a rare pipefish, which is aptly using a large pipe as protection against the days predators. Schooling big eyed trevallies spiral into a watery torpedo, leaving me totally submerged in their protective community. I hover in lotus pose, using an equal inhalation and exhalation to ‘float’ deep beneath the gravity bound surface. It is in moments such as these, when I find myself in an aquatic mirror of my own land based yoga practice; suspended in a complete sense of peace and tranquility within a freer, fluid and more ‘tangible’ world.
The word ‘Yoga’ comes from the sanskrit root Yuj, which literally means union or ‘oneness’ of the individual consciousness with the universal consciousness. Interpretations for the practitioner vary, but there is a general agreement that as beings who coexist and depend upon nature’s resources, there is a need to find both and external and internal harmony with the world around us. Yogic techniques include the more traditional prana (breath) exercises, aimed at stilling the active mind, calming emotions and relaxing the body as well as the more physical asanas aimed at freeing energy blocks in the physical body, uniting the breath with movement, controlling the mind, and ultimately preparing the body for extended periods of meditation. As for the ocean, various asanas are inspired by marine life, while basic instructions are constructed with water imaginary and words such as ‘fluidity’ are key. More specifically, the ancient Vedic texts teach that the levels of prana – of vital energy – are at their strongest by the ocean. This belief echoes our own basic physiology, which is that our bodies are made of water, our tears of joy and sadness are filled with saline, all life on planet earth (or rather ‘planet water’) began in the ocean. We can live without food for many days, but our dependence on water is extreme. Communities around the world settled by this life giving element. We feel calmed, rejuvenated and mesmerized by the power of the sea and when we learn to feel at peace under the water, scuba diving provides us with a unique freedom to play with the laws of gravity, and by floating on our heads and hovering in aquatic space we can discover a whole new world.
During diving, we become automatically conscious of our breath. The increased density of the water means that sound travels four times quicker than on land, so each inhalation echoes through our bodies, while each exhalation leaves a trail of visible bubbles. As a instructor, I listen carefully to my students breathing patterns, knowing that this is an audible key to their stress levels. As a diver, I totally surrender to the water, allowing the cool liquid to calm and soothe me, slowing my breath to a state which requires far more concentration to achieve in a yoga or meditation class.
But yoga is not just about connecting with the universe, but about living with Compassion. Yogic philosophy is based on the moral codes of Yama and Niyama, which act as ethical guidelines based upon truth and Love. One of the more modern challenges for todays practitioner is how to take their practice off the mat and into life – sharing an attitude of flexibility and patience with their neighbours. Unlike martial arts or more conventional sports ‘practise’, the raison d’etre of yoga may not seem so tangible for the outsider. I am often asked what the point of ‘practising’ yoga is? One of many possible replies is that my yoga mat is a safe place for me to explore my boundaries. Yogis are curious by nature. We like to explore our bodies, our imposed limitations and our connections with each other and the world around us. In yoga practise I can play with my levels of discomfort on a physical plane and experiment with my own psychological responses. This training can help to control what may be negative reactions in an everyday situation into calmer and more constructive responses. The parallels with scuba diving are again immediate. Our land based instinct goes against all the principles of spending an extended period under water, and it takes a great deal of mind power to overcome what could be argued to be instinctive reactions. When scuba diving students take their first breath underwater I know that many will feel the water next to their face and immediately dart to the surface. Many new divers find it extremely difficult to breathe only through the mouth and alternatively end up with a nose full of water. Scuba yogis joke that in their morning yoga class they are taught to breathe through the nose (warming the body, deepening the breath and increasing ones sense of ‘groundedness’ of connection with the earth), while during a dive briefing the importance of breathing only through the mouth is stressed. However, by trusting the equipment, learning the basics of the physics of diving and taking control over instinctive reactions, panic can easily be calmed and surrender to the beauty of the underwater world is inevitable.
I have recently sat in a singing circle after the showing of ‘Whale Dreamers’ at the Arma museum, chanting the words ‘fire is my body, water is my blood, air is my breath and fire my spirit’. To all budding yogis whether you be exploring life on your yoga mat, or through daily encounters, I appeal to you to return to the ocean. Allow yourselves to test your power over your mind, conquering any thoughts of fear and sedating your curiosity. Scuba diving not only reveals a beautiful blue world, where nature still dominates and its life giving corals can be revered, but it is accessible to both the bendy and the not so bendy, the slender and the not so slender. Diving literally turns the idea of human movement on its head, and allows us to play with gravity, to be fully submerged in a tactile fluid life force, and to meditate in an audible silence. Just hours away from the cultural hub of the yoga bound hills of Ubud, ebbs the watery oasis of Liberty, where a whole new dimension of peace and tranquility waits to be floated above.
Bex Tyrer
Yoga Teacher and Private Guide/Scuba Instructor
Ubud
