There’s a lot of information out there on the benefits of doing yoga on the beach, but experiencing it for the first time this Saturday was more than I expected. Have you ever done drugs in your life? Yeah, me either but when the yoga hour ended, I had to think about any possible drugs I might have done beforehand to induce such a high. Then I remembered, this is life, life is a drug. Whether you like to run, bike, or eat french fries in your underwear, the things we enjoy most come from the actual experience rather than the benefits. Although, the benefits are always just as important! Here’s what you need to know about the actual experience of beach yoga.

Go ahead and ditch your mat. Bring a towel instead to test the way you “show up”. The best way to experience yoga on the beach is to allow your body to feel the ever-changing levels of the sand. A mat comes in handy when you are on a hard surface, but the flexibility of a towel opens you up to feeling yourself in a deeper pose. Ultimately, it challenges your balance and tests your commitment towards “showing up”. This is a very strong idea in yoga. Basically, how you show up on the mat reflects how you show up in your own life.

When it gets tough are you quick to exit a pose or do you hold it just a bit longer and breathe through the sweat dripping down your face? Embracing a challenge and sticking through allows for greater rewards in the end.

Another one for the books are the surprises that are right in front of us, but might go unnoticed from being a little too focused. The things you appreciate most never have to be forced, because the best surprises can come from the most basic sights.

If you ever people watch on the beach, you’ll know what I mean. Some of the things you see are strange and almost headliner worthy! Maybe you see a couple being goofy together or maybe you see someone picking their nose. These average things that seem to surprise us are due to the way we accepted the. I’m sure you weren’t out there searching for a nose picker, it just happened and you were surprised.

The same goes here.

Working through a flow allows you to focus on an intention, on your breath, or to even just keep a soft gaze ahead of you. The things that find you are just as relatable to the surprises you find while people watching. You’re observing, but you’re not looking for anything in particular. During my experience, we saw dolphins swimming in front of us. These are the simple things that are right in sight. Sometimes we miss out by being too focused or by taking ourselves too seriously.

The key factor in anything you go after is to value the experience. The experience is what is happening right here and right now. Whether it be fun or challenging, the way you allow yourself to experience something will dictate how you benefit from it in the long run.