The Body Follows the Mind with Taylor Knox
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Taylor Knox is the living embodiment of Vuori’s ethos, The Rise. The Shine. Born from the same generation of professional surfers as Kelly Slater and Rob Machado, Taylor is a local legend and spent most of his life in our backyard of Carlsbad, CA. From overcoming a spinal injury at 15 to a decades-long pro career that set the standard for power surfing, Taylor’s journey would naturally bring him to a deep understanding of the powerful connection between mind and body.
Diagnosed as a child with a degenerative disease impacting his vertebrae, this unknowingly became a foundational mantra for Taylor early on in his grom days. Despite a dire diagnosis that he would be paralyzed from the waist down and never able to surf again, an inner hunger–and chance encounter with ‘The Psychology of Winning’–reframed Taylor’s mindset to not let his body dictate his ability to do what he loves. Over the next 20 years, he’d go on to win and consistently rank among the top 5 surfers on the world tour.
Technique. Power. Style. It's the trifecta that brought Taylor to the height of surfing early in his career, in an era of trailblazers and icons that would transform the sport forever. As surfers pushed the envelope on performance, the fast-paced world tour circuit compounded pressures to win–and stay on top.
It became clear to Taylor that reaching the highest heights in his craft wasn’t enough. It was time for a new summit: knowing thyself. Searching for solace, Taylor encountered the Kelee Meditation practice, and began incorporating stillness and mental detachment through five-minute meditation sessions to evolve beyond the noise and limits of the mind.
While Kelee Meditation was a gamechanger for his mental clarity, Taylor evolved his approach to maintaining his physical health as well. Through dynamic neuromuscular stabilization (DNS), a method that focuses on the body’s early postural foundations, he made huge strides in his movement efficiency and fluidity–the kind necessary to continue surfing at a high level well into his 50s.
Today, Taylor Knox continues to inspire the next generation by embodying The Rise. The Shine. We are proud and honored to welcome Taylor Knox into the Vuori family not only for his contributions as a pioneer on the water, but as a living example that the toil of the climb, the hard-earned journey, can push you past your own limitations to peaks you never thought possible.