Paddle Board Yoga: Getting Started
Paddle board yoga (or SUP yoga) offers a wonderful blend of yoga and outdoor adventure, allowing you to connect with nature, strengthen your body, and find tranquillity. This unique practice allows you to find balance and harmony while floating on water. It involves performing various asanas on a paddleboard floating on water, creating an added challenge that requires balance, core strength, and focus.
Benefits of Paddle Board Yoga
- Core Strength and Stability: Performing yoga on an unstable surface like a paddleboard engages the core muscles, leading to improved balance, stability, and overall strength.
- Increased Focus: The need to concentrate on maintaining balance while executing yoga poses on water enhances your focus and helps in grounding the mind.
- Connection with Nature: Being surrounded by water, open sky, and nature during paddle board yoga offers a serene and rejuvenating experience, promoting mental clarity and tranquility.
- Full-Body Workout: Paddle board yoga is a fantastic way to engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously, providing a complete workout for the body.
- Stress Relief: The combination of yoga, fresh air, and being out in nature has a calming effect, helping to reduce stress and anxiety.
Basic Poses for Paddle Board Yoga:
- Mountain Pose (Tadasana): Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart, grounding yourself on the board. Maintain balance and focus on your breath.
- Warrior II Pose (Virabhadrasana II): Step one foot back, toes pointing towards the side of the board. Bend the front knee, extending the arms parallel to the board.
- Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana): From a kneeling position, place your hands on the board, tuck your toes, and lift your hips to form an inverted V shape.
- Tree Pose (Vrksasana): Shift your weight onto one leg, placing the sole of the opposite foot against the inner thigh of the standing leg. Find your balance and extend your arms overhead.
- Savasana (Corpse Pose): Lie down on the board, extending your legs and arms comfortably. Close your eyes, relax, and allow yourself to fully absorb the calming energy of the water.
SUP Yoga Tips for Beginners:
- Practice on land: Get used to being on the board before trying anything on the water
- Stay in calm waters: Choose a calm and relatively still body of water for your initial paddle board yoga sessions to get accustomed to the board's stability.
- Take it slow: Begin with simple poses and gradually progress to more challenging ones as you build confidence and improve your balance.
- Focus on your breath: Concentrate on slow, steady breaths to help maintain balance and enhance your mindfulness during the practice.
- Embrace falling: It's inevitable to fall into the water at times. Embrace it as part of the learning process and have fun with it!
SUP Yoga Safety:
It is important to take note of our water safety tips at all times. Wearing a PFD or buoyancy aid is not very practical when trying to do yoga so you can take it off as long as you're in calm flat water and the water is no more than waist deep. Be aware of currents or winds and, if possible, have a friend with you or on shore.