Yoga on the Pond

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch had a picture showing people doing yoga on stand up paddle boards (SUPs) in Creve Coeur Lake.  The accompanying article said that this type of yoga was great to do during the pandemic as the boards were tied together on knotted ropes so that proper social distanced was maintained.  The cost per one session was $13 with another $12 needed for paddle board rental.  I realized that here was a means of exercise that I could do for free.  Well, it would be free as long as one of my daughters who attends yoga classes would agree to be the instructor.  After all, I already had the pond and the paddle boards. 

So this past Saturday, Laura and I decided to try it out.  Mike insisted on being present and justified his presence by saying he would be the official blog photographer.  He was a very conscientious photographer and I received lots of photos for the blog.  However, his volunteering was not altruistic.  The real reason he wanted to be there was to see me fall into the pond.  I know this because he was very disappointed when that did not happen. 

Yoga on paddle boards can actually use muscles that yoga in a studio does not because the yoga student is constantly using their core muscles just to maintain balance on a moving body of water.  Also as a consequence of the moving water, and the ever present possibility of falling in, paddle board yoga requires that the person be always practicing mindfulness or being in the moment. 

According to articles, I found online while researching for this blog, students beginning SUP Yoga should widen their stance, stay perpendicular on the board instead of parallel (like warrior one and two poses) and maintain two contact points on the paddle board.  They also suggest an anchor for the paddle board and a leash for the paddle.  All of these things would have been good to know before my first SUP yoga session. 

Laura was a very good instructor.  She had actually used her phone to find a SUP yoga routine online.  However, our class session did not go as smoothly as it could because we kept floating away from each other (which also made things difficult for the photographer.).  I definitely see the advantage of an anchor for the paddle board.  We also had to be careful not to tip our paddle into the water while doing yoga as there was always the chance that it would sink.  A leash for the paddle sounds like a good idea also. 

Laura, possibly because she had not read the articles that I had, did not have us keep two contact points on the board.  We did well with full body and hands and feet on the board.  We did alright with just two feet on the board.  But turning sideways or parallel on the board resulted in Laura falling in.  Also, trying to do tree pose on the water nearly capsized me. 

I have to give Laura credit though.  She was able to do the tree pose on water as well as a head stand.  Thank goodness Mike got that picture because she was able to impress her Cross Fit friends when she showed them that proof. 

Tree Pose

Head Stand

Emily is coming for a visit soon and I am going to talk her into leading a Stand Up Paddle Board Yoga session.  It truly was relaxing communing with nature while doing yoga instead of listening to the new wave music they use in the yoga studio.  However, I have decided that I will switch to my favorite yoga poses like the Child's Pose and the Cobra whenever she recommends the Tree or Warrior II.  That way I know I will stay on my board. 

Cobra Pose

Child's Pose