Paddleboard Yoga, invented by 2009,
is the practice of modern
yoga as exercise
Yoga as exercise is a physical activity consisting mainly of postures, often connected by flowing sequences, sometimes accompanied by breathing exercises, and frequently ending with relaxation lying down or meditation. Yoga in this form has ...
, and sometimes specific
transitions between
postures, while
stand up paddleboarding
Standup paddleboarding (SUP) is a water sport born from surfing with modern roots in Hawaii. Stand up paddleboarders stand on boards that are floating on the water, and use a paddle to propel themselves through the water. The sport was doc ...
, usually with the board in calm water, such as a lake. Beginners may practice this
yoga hybrid on the beach or in a swimming pool to gain the strength and flexibility to maintain the balance necessary when the board is afloat. Beginners may practice a sequence of asanas either on a normal length
surfboard
A surfboard is a narrow plank used in surfing. Surfboards are relatively light, but are strong enough to support an individual standing on them while riding an ocean wave. They were invented in ancient Hawaii, where they were known as ''papa he'e ...
or a specially designed stand up
paddle board
Paddleboarding is a water sport in which participants are propelled by a swimming motion using their arms while lying or kneeling on a paddleboard or surfboard in the ocean or other body of water. This article refers to traditional prone or kneel ...
; some, described as "forgiving", are inflatable.
Paddle board yoga is celebrated at the
Wanderlust Festival
The Wanderlust Festival is a yoga summer festival first held in Squaw Valley in July 2009. The event, announced in May 2009, featured a musical lineup featuring Michael Franti, Spoon, Broken Social Scene, and Girl Talk, and featured a yogi lineu ...
in Hawaii. One of the pioneers of Paddleboard Yoga,
Rachel Bråthén, lives and teaches yoga in the island of
Aruba
Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...
in the
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...
; she began teaching Paddleboard Yoga in 2009.
Reception
Alexa Pozniak, writing for
Boston.com
''Boston.com'' is a regional website that offers news and information about the Boston, Massachusetts, region. It is owned and operated by Boston Globe Media Partners, the publisher of ''The Boston Globe''.
History
''Boston.com'' was one of t ...
in 2013, contrasted Paddleboard Yoga with the "dimly lit studio
and
yoga mat
Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...
s of conventional yoga. Practising poses including
Downward Dog
Downward Dog Pose or Downward-facing Dog Pose, also called Adho Mukha Shvanasana ( sa, अधोमुखश्वानासन; IAST: ''Adho Mukha Śvānāsana''), is an inversion asana, often practised as part of a flowing sequence of pose ...
in Beverly Harbor with its strong currents, each board was fitted with a small anchor. He noted that the style was both a "physical workout",
the core muscles constantly working to keep the body balanced on the board, and "an exercise in mental focus".
When he lost focus as he had often done on his yoga mat, his board "penaliz
d himfor letting
ismind wander"
and, like what the instructor had described as "only about 10% of her students", he fell into the "chilly" water. All the same, Pozniak called the experience a "sensory adventure"
with mewing seagulls, the ocean breeze, and the scent of salt water: both "soothing" and "energizing".
Lauren Ladoceour, in ''
Yoga Journal
''Yoga Journal'' is a website and digital journal, formerly a print magazine, on yoga as exercise founded in California in 1975 with the goal of combining the essence of traditional yoga with scientific understanding. It has produced live events ...
'' in 2013, wrote that
stand up paddleboarding
Standup paddleboarding (SUP) is a water sport born from surfing with modern roots in Hawaii. Stand up paddleboarders stand on boards that are floating on the water, and use a paddle to propel themselves through the water. The sport was doc ...
was created in the 1940s by
surfers at
Waikiki
Waikiki (; haw, Waikīkī; ; also known as Waikiki Beach) is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the south shore of the island of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii.
Waikiki is most famous for Waikiki Beach, which is one of six beaches in the district ...
in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
. She described Paddleboard Yoga as bringing "a sense of joyful freedom to an otherwise earth-bound yoga practice."
Classes began with kneeling poses like
Cat-Cow, advancing to
standing asanas
The standing asanas are the yoga poses or asanas with one or both feet on the ground, and the body more or less upright. They are among the most distinctive features of modern yoga as exercise. Until the 20th century there were very few of these, ...
such as
Tree Pose. She quoted
vinyasa yoga teacher and paddleboard racer Gillian Gibree as saying that the practice demands focus, both in the asanas and in the transitions between them. To avoid falling in, even on calm water, micromovements are needed, with the gaze on a fixed point. The
Bikram yoga
Bikram Yoga is a system of hot yoga, a type of yoga as exercise, devised by Bikram Choudhury and based on the teachings of B. C. Ghosh, that became popular in the early 1970s. Classes consist of a fixed sequence of 26 postures, practised in a ...
teacher Katie Fitzgerald adds that "falling is just part of the experience".
The travel writer Elizabeth Gowing, on her tour of the many kinds of
yoga in Britain
Yoga in Britain is the practice of yoga, including modern yoga as exercise, in Britain. Yoga, consisting mainly of postures (asanas), arrived in Britain early in the 20th century, though the first classes that contained asanas were described a ...
, described "Stand-up Paddleboard Yoga" in
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
, England, in 2019. She surprised herself at the end of an hour's tuition, which included
Wild Thing Pose, by standing on her board in
Warrior Pose.
References
External links
At CBS
{{Yoga as exercise
Surfing
Paddling
Adventure tourism in India
Yoga styles
Yoga hybrids