ACTION SPORTS: Meditation has fortified Knox

Meditation has fortified Knox

By MICHELLE ESPOSITO - For the North County Times | Monday, May 5, 2008 9:09 PM PDT ∞

There's something different about Taylor Knox.

Long-time friends of the professional surfer notice it right away. Once known for his frenetic surfing style, Knox's friends notice a more peaceful way about him.

But unless prompted, Knox won't talk about the changes.

"It's not that I want to keep it to myself, but you don't ever want to push anything on anyone," Knox said.

Ask him, though, and he'll tell you daily meditation has transformed his life.

Knox is the same professional competing on surfing's highest stage, but now he boasts a mental clarity that was missing. He is ranked 13th on the World Championship Tour, and even though he turns 37 this month, the Carlsbad High product said he has never felt better.

At Saturday's WQS competition at Lower Trestles in San Onofre State Beach, he took a moment to reflect on the changes in his life. He had already qualified for the quarterfinals the previous day and was waiting for his heat to begin.

"I learned something yesterday," he said. "In my last two heats I advanced in the last minute. For me it was a real tight, pressure situation with no time, and I knew exactly what to do. I was very calm. I was able to perform on the waves."

But it wasn't always that way.

As a father of two, he said it pained him to spend so much time away from his son Hunter, 10, and daughter Jordyn, 8. His career on the ASP World Tour takes him on global wave safaris 11 months out of the year. Of the 11 stops, only one is near Trestles.

"From an outsiders point of view my life was absolutely perfect," Knox said. "I had a great contract. I was a pro surfer. I could pay my bills. But I wasn't happy."

That's led him to Ron W. Rathbun, a published author and founder of the Kelee Spiritual Foundation ---- a nonprofit organization in Oceanside dedicated to helping those in search of self-understanding. Rathbun, who has been teaching meditation for 20 years, focuses on kelee ---- a meditation based on the stillness of the mind. University of California San Diego physician Daniel Lee is working with Rathbun on a medical study about kelee.

"What's trapped inside of this kelee is our issues," Rathbun said. "This is the proverbial baggage."

The goal is to break the cycle of negative thoughts spinning through your mind by meditating for five minutes in the morning and the evening.

"Through the practice you start learning how to be non-reactive," Rathbun said.

For Knox, the issue was "always being too heady."

"He would go out into the water and he would get distracted by other competitors," Rathbun explained. "He would be paying attention to what they were thinking, and not what's going on with him."

Knox wasn't even aware of what he was doing. He just knew something wasn't right.

"I was at a point where I was like, 'I cannot see this to figure this problem out for myself,'" Knox said. "And from there, as soon as I met him, I was like, ‘I found someone that knows.'"

Ordinarily, meditation was farthest thing from this competitive surfer's mind.

"I was pretty turned off by the whole new age thing, cosmic thing, stars aligned," Knox said. "I didn't like any of that."

But if he didn't stop his thoughts from interfering with his focus, it would continue to affect his surfing.

"You fall on a wave and you start going, ‘Oh, I'm an idiot,'" Knox said. "Or you can start beating yourself up. Or you can put a lot of pressure on yourself."

But through meditation he said he learned to differentiate between feelings caused by the brain and the heart. He said he learned to identify and connect with the feelings that come from the heart.

"For me it's been about that perfect combination of a relaxed focus," Knox said. "Having your mind sharp, but your physical body needs to be loose. Because if you're stiff you're also tight and that is when you wind up falling."

Fellow WCT competitor Fred Patacchia has noticed the change.

"He's surfing like he's a young guy and I think (meditation) helps," Patacchia said. "He's one of the pioneers that took surfing to the next level as a sport. He'd work out with the Padres and he was the one where physical fitness came into a big part with meditation and yoga and stretching.

"So for myself, a young guy, I kind of follow in his footsteps and try to do certain things that just give me the extra inch over my competitors."

And for Knox, it's about more than just the competitive prowess.

"It's teaching me a lot of patience which has helped incredibly in my personal life," he said. "But it's really helped me in showing me how to enjoy what I'm doing."