Kalani Rivero, 22
“Covered in Awareness”
The term covered in awareness came to me from Sam Harris and his meditation app called “Waking Up.” Sam uses the term to represent the confidence to go deep and focus on the feelings and sensations that allow you to settle down and operate in the present moment.
Kalani has the confidence and awareness to go deep and master the moments whether it is charging gnarly Pipe, attacking the lip at Rocky Point or free diving a hundred feet or more under the surface and spearing a huge fish.
Kalani has spent the last ten years learning to perfect the “grab rail” takeoff that has allowed him to become one of the best at this technique at the Banzai Pipeline. During this time he has also discovered the passion needed to embrace challenges and the mental strength to perform under extreme pressure and battle the distractions and win.
To become this good at such difficult techniques and maneuvers requires the confidence to maintain the awareness of what’s expected, the acceptance to get the job done and the capacity to balance between the efforts given and the results achieved.
The secret to Kalani’s success is that he has combined two activities that provide a huge amount of fun with the need to master the breathing required to maintain the confidence to be “covered in awareness.” In this state of readiness, Kalani is able to experience the flow where the effort he puts out comes back to him as feelings of joy, satisfaction and success.
That’s HiLevel!
Photo Credits
The cover photo Elena Corvellec, Teahupoo
Kalani under water, and Kalani holding the fish: Kalani Personal Files
Kalani grabbing rail by Island Style
Kalani deep in a Pipeline wave by Tony Heff