Meet Roberto Andres Martinez Tula, RA for short. (Alien, Artist, Designer, Lover, Sk8er, Teacher, Friend and all around positive vibes creator). He describes his life “like that book ‘Life of Pi’ with a splash of the ‘Little Buddha’ movie, taking some pages from ‘The Alchemist’ as he try to practice the surrender experiment in this ‘Matrix’ reality on a skateboard.” His philosophy is that we are all each others Guru’s, and every experience is a lesson in this university we like to call the universe. He enjoys connecting with people by teaching them how to heal themselves and improve their lives from personal experience. More than just a teacher, he focuses on being a friend that shares wisdom and love through heart practices, and activating our kundalini energy. He’s on IG @skatemeditations
What is the story of SKATE MEDITATIONS?
In this incarnation I was born in Ecuador, raised in California when I started skating and traveling the world connecting with my fellow Jedis. I was introduced to yoga by a friend after a doctor told me I could never walk right again after dislocating my knee skateboarding. My world completely changed after that, I started skating even better than before and felt more amazing than ever. I practiced so much that I eventually became a Yoga teacher, and during my training is how I found out about meditation. It was like a dream come true to find something that could give me the same feeling that Sk8ing provided by bringing me completely into the present moment. I loved it so much that I became a meditation teacher and decided that I wanted to share these gems of knowledge I found along the way with the rest of the world. So the universe guided me with synchronicities to come up with my own style of meditation combining all my favorite things.
First, we go skate to stimulate the body, then we sit on the board, we close our eyes to connect with our breath to settle down then step into a different dimension.
What is the relationship between skating and meditating?
If you can skate you are secretly a master at meditation without even knowing, the lessons learned on the board have prepared you for the moments you spend with your eyes closed inside your mind. It is all about being in the present moment and connecting with your breath as you allow thoughts to pass by the body just like how the external world passes when we skate. In meditation, when you lose your focus, you return back to your center again and again, just like in skating. If you fall, you get back up repeatedly until you find your balance to achieve your goal. In skateboarding you know things will not come easy and most of the time tricks don’t just manifest first try, but it is all about daily practice and focus to get what you want.
Meditation works the same you can work on various things like increasing your time in passive meditations, on work on active meditations to astral project or meet your shadow. It’s all about hard work and returning to your center because both practices require discipline, visualization and patience. If you can skate you can meditate.
Why skating is fashionable?
Skating has been responsible for setting trends all over the world since it started by inspiring people to express themselves trough fashion and movement. It is a community of people from all over the world showcasing their freedom, individuality and unique way to put things together. It is one of the few sports where people can wear whatever they feel comfortable in and go cruise around the city to experience their worries float away. It is at the center of culture everywhere form designer brands to music and movies where it is being featured in most advertisements to make them look cool. If you want to see what will be the latest trend in fashion all you have to do is watch a current skate video to see how they are dressing and that’s how everyone will start to look like in 6 months or less. Skate brands have gotten so big that now people wait for hours Impatiently outside stores and online for their products to release just for a chance to buy them, these products run out in minutes and resell for hundreds of dollars later. 
How important are clothes when skating? (Material/style/colors)
Besides the actual board, clothes are probably the next most important thing when going out skating because it influences your whole mood and that influences how your day goes. The number one rule is that they are high vibrational clothing items, and that can be anything from your favorite jeans you got from a thrift store for almost nothing, to some new kicks you paid and arm and a leg for. The only thing that matters is how you feel because that will affect your aura, you can go out wearing some multicolor outfit that is 4 times your size or some punk rock slim fitted gear as long as you feel fresh. Clothing helps you portray your soul to the world, it represent your spirit in this 3d world and helps showcase your energy. The proper fit might have your confidence running at an all time high and make you land that trick you wanted or maybe even talk to that person you like walking down the street. Original designs and length of each clothing item can be something that inspires you and others to share a vibe not to mention the shoes you decide to combine them with. Materials are also something very important because what you wear is rubbing up against your skin all day and that can drive you to skate longer or go home early.
Could you name some of the most famous clothing brands for skaters and your experience with them?
Some of my all time favorite skate brands that are still around are Girl/Chocolate Skateboards, Emerica, Supreme, Fourstar Clothing, Nixon and Royal Trucks because they have the best taste in everything they do. These brands always maintained the quality of their products, always dropping beautiful designs since they started not to mention having a team of people from diverse backgrounds to represent them. They consistently evolved and set trends in the skate community, that had a ripple effect on other industries and brands outside who use sk8ing as a source to culture vulture.
Currently some of the new wave of companies that are taking over the world by representing skateboarding are Palace, Louis Vuitton (thanks to the visionary god Virgil Abloh), Roark, Nike, Brixton, Uma Landsleds, Off White, Illegal Civ and Lulu Lemon. They are known for creating amazing content that skaters are stoked on, but at the same time giving people who are just fans a glimpse into the magic that takes place on this miraculous piece of wood. In my life I had the blessing of receiving some free products from different companies witch kept me going and motivating me to keep progressing in my skating, so whenever I have a chance to help someone I return the favor and hook them up. In this world there are so many big brands out there which we love to represent but nothing feels better than helping your friends projects and local brands because it is how we give them a chance to grow and stay alive.
The clothing drawer of a skater – how it should look like? How many items and what items would you recommend?
One of my favorite designers Rick Owens gets his inspiration from the skate world and said he has 20 pieces of the same outfit as a sort of uniform, which is pretty cool so you can just get up and go take on the day. But since most of us are not there yet, here are a couple things I do myself that I can suggest to all my Thrashers out there. First you need a good selection of fresh socks because you are going to change them at least twice a day (you could say the same for underwear but that is always optional). Next, having some basic t-shirts and tank tops to be able to layer them them up with your shirts, vests but also with some hoodies. Definitely need a couple jackets on hand if you wanna go out night skating or live in a place that is freezing cold. I love skating in shorts because of how much movement and comfort they provide but sometimes skating in pants provides extra padding in case the board hits your legs. Beanies are amazing for skating because it keeps the hair from being in your eyes but hats will also do the trick. Belts are cool but sometimes they can be kinda heavy so a shoe lace might just be the perfect way to keep your pants up. It might sound weird but most of the time I usually vary the outfit I’m wearing depending on the music I’m listening to that day, so I might go full all black looking like Trent Resnor or the next day change up the color palette to earth tones like Kanye.
Your message to the world today!
We love to skate, they love to hate and the only thing that can bring us together is to meditate. We are all brothers and sisters that represent different colors of the rainbow through the illusion of separation, but it is our job in this life to remember that we are all one and come from the same light (like the Pink Floyd triangle). It is only through love, empathy and acceptance of other human lives that we can stop the duality experience we a currently creating in this reality. We are here to co-create a new world as a community in this new age of Aquarius which means a new opportunity to not tear each other down but instead build each other up, to not give in to fear but instead show love. No matter what your gender, religion, skin color or sexual preference is we can all come together support one another by joining me in some Skate Meditations. One.
Citește în continuare Calendarul Pirelli 2022 prezintă viața artiștilor „On The Road”. Imagini de colecție cu Rita Ora, Grimes și Cher
