Where Sky Meets Sea: A Journey Into Presence Through Yoga and Diving

There’s something magical that happens when you combine the ancient wisdom of yoga with the boundless beauty of the ocean. As both a Traditional Chinese Medicine and a lifelong yoga practitioner, I’ve always been drawn to experiences that remind us of our inherent connection with nature. This is why I created this unique retreat that brings together two seemingly different practices: yoga and diving.

More Than Just Parts of Nature

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, we understand something profound about our relationship with the natural world – we don’t just exist within nature, we are nature itself. Every breath we take, every movement we make, is an expression of the same force that moves the tides and makes the grass grow. This understanding lies at the heart of this retreat experience.

When we practice yoga on the grass, surrounded by swaying trees and curious creatures, we’re not just exercising in a pretty location. We’re participating in a grand symphony of life. The morning dew beneath our feet, the gentle breeze on our skin, the chorus of birds accompanying our breath – these aren’t just pleasant additions to our practice, they’re reminders of who we truly are.

The Dance of Two Blues

There’s a special kind of magic in combining yoga with diving. Both practices share a fundamental truth – the power of presence. In yoga, we find it through the breath, through mindful movement, through the subtle awareness of energy flowing through our bodies. In diving, we discover it in the weightless blue embrace of the ocean, in the rhythm of our bubbles, in the profound silence that envelops us as we descend.

I often tell my participants that when you’re underwater, nature doesn’t just surround you – it holds you. The pressure of the water against your skin becomes a constant reminder of your place in this vast blue world. Just as in a deep meditation, the mental chatter naturally subsides, replaced by a pristine awareness that feels as clear as the waters around you.

A Practice of Presence

Our retreat isn’t about perfecting handstands or achieving advanced dive certifications (though both might happen!). It’s about discovering the extraordinary in the ordinary. It’s about feeling the earth beneath your feet during our morning yoga sessions, watching the sun paint the sky in impossible colors as we flow through our asanas. It’s about experiencing the profound silence that comes when you hover weightlessly above a coral reef, your breath bubbles the only sound in an otherwise perfect stillness.

As a TCM practitioner, I see how this immersion in nature helps restore our natural rhythms. The early morning practices align us with the rising sun, the ocean adventures connect us with the tides, and our evening slow practice ground us as day transitions to night. We’re not just observing these cycles – we’re remembering that we are these cycles.

The Blue Meditation

There’s a moment in diving that I call “the blue meditation.” When you descend just far enough that the surface noise completely disappears, and all that’s left is the vast, embracing blue. In that moment, the boundary between where you end and where the ocean begins becomes deliciously unclear. It’s remarkably similar to those precious moments in deep meditation when the distinction between observer and observed gently dissolves.

This is why I believe these practices complement each other so perfectly. Both yoga and diving invite us into a state of presence that goes beyond our usual way of experiencing the world. They remind us that peace isn’t something we need to create – it’s our natural state when we stop long enough to notice it.

The Sacred Dance of Preparation

The physical practice of yoga asanas offers us something extraordinary when preparing for diving. Each pose becomes more than just a stretch or strengthening exercise – it’s an invitation to develop the qualities that make us better divers. When we practice pranayama with ujjayi breath, we’re not just moving air; we’re training the steady, conscious breathing that will serve us underwater. As we hold plank pose, we’re building not just core strength but the body awareness that helps us maintain perfect trim in the water.

In our practice, we focus particularly on poses that enhance both physical and mental preparation for diving. Shoulder openers help us carry tanks with ease. Twists and forward folds increase our spine mobility for donning equipment. Balance poses cultivate the steadiness needed for controlled descents. But more than these physical benefits, each asana becomes a meditation in mindfulness.

When we practice kapalabhati breathing, we’re not just cleansing our systems – we’re developing the breath control that will help us manage our air consumption underwater. As we move through slow, controlled vinyasas, we’re cultivating the same mindful movement that will allow us to glide effortlessly through the water without disturbing marine life.

Beyond the Physical

But here’s the beautiful secret: while these physical preparations are valuable, they’re just the beginning. As we practice, we discover that the same presence we find in a carefully aligned warrior pose is what allows us to hover motionless beside a coral reef. The balance we cultivate in tree pose translates into the perfect buoyancy that lets us observe marine life without disturbing it.

We learn to move with intention, to breathe with awareness, to find stillness in motion – all skills that serve us both on the mat and under the waves. This isn’t about performing perfect poses or achieving advanced diving certifications. It’s about developing a relationship with our bodies and breath that serves us in both practices, creating a seamless bridge between land and sea.

Beyond Our Bubble: Touching the Heart of the Philippines

In between our dives and yoga sessions, I’ve always felt it crucial to burst the bubble of our retreat paradise. Yes, we stay in beautiful accommodations, practice yoga in pristine settings, and dive in crystal-clear waters. But the real Philippines – my Philippines – lies just beyond these comfortable confines, pulsing with life, struggle, and unvarnished beauty.

This is why I offer to take you to walks into towns and take you to the local markets, where the air is thick with the scent of dried fish and fresh mangoes, where vendors call out their wares in a melodic mix of English, Tagalog and Visayan language. Walking through these narrow aisles, dodging motorcycle vendors and children playing, you experience the Philippines that tourists rarely see. When I share stories about each vegetable, each cooking technique, each local tradition, I’m not just giving you information – I’m inviting you into one part of my world, showing you the culture that partly shaped me.

These excursions are more than just cultural tourism. They’re a gentle reminder of our privilege, a window into the daily lives of people who call these islands home. When we visit the local communities, learning about their struggles with changing seas and climate patterns, understanding their deep connection to these waters we dive in, something shifts in our perspective. Our yoga practice becomes more than personal wellness; it becomes a reminder of our responsibility to tread lightly on this earth and to understand the lives of those who share it with us.

The contrast between our retreat “bubble” and the vibrant, sometimes challenging reality of local life serves a purpose. It reminds us that true spiritual practice isn’t about escaping the world, but about engaging with it more fully, more compassionately. When we return to our yoga mats after these excursions, our practice is enriched by this broader perspective. Our diving becomes more meaningful when we understand the communities who have lived in harmony with these waters for generations.

A Heart Full of Gratitude

As I reflect on the journeys we’ve shared during these retreats, my heart swells with gratitude for each participant who has chosen to join this unique adventure. You come from different ”places”, with varying levels of experience in both yoga and diving, each carrying your own intentions and expectations.

Some of you arrive as experienced yogis, curious about diving. Others come as seasoned divers, somewhat hesitant about yoga. Some seek adventure, others peace. Some come to challenge themselves, others to heal. Your differences in age, background, physical ability, and personal goals could have created barriers. Instead, they’ve enriched our shared experience beyond measure.

What moves me most deeply is watching how these differences dissolve in the face of shared experience. How the nervous first-time diver is gently encouraged by the experienced photographer. How the flexible yoga teacher learns from the mindful presence of the meditation practitioner. How the young adventure seeker finds wisdom in the careful approach of the elder participant.

In our morning circles, I witness your willingness to see each other – truly see each other – with open hearts and minds. Whether struggling with a challenging pose or processing a powerful underwater experience, you hold space for one another with such grace. You celebrate each other’s victories, support each other’s challenges, and share in each other’s discoveries.

This openness, this willingness to embrace both similarities and differences, creates a tapestry far richer than any single thread could achieve alone. As your guide, I am humbled by your trust, inspired by your courage, and deeply grateful for the community we create together.

To each of you who has chosen to join this journey – thank you. Thank you for bringing your whole self to the practice, for your willingness to explore beyond your comfort zone, for your openness to new experiences and perspectives. Thank you for showing up not just for yourself, but for each other. In your presence, in your practice, in your shared moments of discovery, you embody the very essence of what this retreat is about – the recognition that beneath our apparent differences, we are all one, all connected, all part of the same vast ocean of being.

May the insights and connections you’ve found here continue to ripple outward, touching all aspects of your life. May you carry with you not just memories of blue depths and sun salutations, but the lasting awareness of your connection to nature, to each other, and to your own true nature.

With deepest gratitude and love,

Erika

Image credit: Nina Strasser