by Sally MacKinnon
Writer and surfing, yoga and fitness instructor Sally MacKinnon who trained with My Health Yoga as a teacher in 2015, recently released a book from the heart of the Southern Gold Coast beaches.
“the dharma of surfing: wisdom from the water for life” is an unique blend of surf-life wisdoms and evocative photographs that is written from a foundation of yoga and sacred ecology. It is for surfers and non-surfers alike.
“Surfing saved my life,” Sally said.
“When I learned how to surf at the age of 46 it was the best possible reason to stop being a workaholic and to celebrate the joy and beauty of the ocean, Mother Nature and life.”
“Becoming a surf instructor at Currumbin Alley at age 50 opened the door to the happiest life possible and now sharing some of the learnings from this adventure in a book is a dream come true,” she said.
“In early 2015 I started to jot down all the things I was learning from practicing and teaching surfing and yoga because I realised that alongside Mother Nature, these had become the lessons I was living with every day – on land and in the water.”
“After I wrote those original notes I collaborated with two local photographers – Scott Johnson and my son Huon MacKinnon-Farnworth – and independently published a hardcover, full colour companion book.
“I call it a love letter to life because it celebrates the spirit of sharing, mindfulness, gratitude and joyfulness we are all capable of in our lives whether we are surfers or not,” Sally said.
Sally spent more than 20 years working as a professional environmentalist on the Gold Coast and helped to establish the Ethos Foundation in 2004. She has a PhD in Adult Learning from the University of Technology Sydney.
However, eight years ago when she learned to surf after a lifetime of longing to ride the waves, she radically changed her life to move from the high stress world of activism to directly immersing in Mother Nature.
In a midlife reinvention she retrained as a fitness, yoga and surf instructor and now lives her life in tune with the tides, winds and swells.
She approaches surfing as a spiritual practice which reveres and respects the ocean as one of Mother Nature’s most extraordinary elements which cannot be controlled, managed, or conquere
She said, “surfing is a meditation in that early morning paddle out across the rising sun as it glows through liquid emerald glass that’s blindingly beautiful.
“It’s inter-being in action when we connect with the company of dolphins, turtles, rays and whales (and yes, sharks too)…in silence.
“And when we get to fly along the face of a wave of pure sunlight and wind energy with a mind so in the moment that the ego is annihilated, there is only AUM, unity, connection, flow…” she said.
“the dharma of surfing” is independently published and is now available from Amazon.com and the Book Depository. A “dharma” blog is also live where people can explore not only the book, but listen to a recent ABC radio interview about the book, and follow ongoing blogging from the big blue: https://thedharmaofsurfing.com
Sally MacKinnon can be contacted at:
mob: 0412 682 008
em: [email protected]
web: https://thedharmaofsurfing.com
