Stand Up Paddle Board Yoga
COVID-19 UPDATE (December 2020 – June 2021)
Due to the continued safety risk of COVID-19 for in person gatherings, we have suspended private SUP Yoga until Summer 2021. If you have questions, please contact amelia@stokedyogi.com for more information, COVID precautions and current rates.
Private SUP Yoga Classes in Los Osos and Morro Bay, California
Get stoked on stand up paddle board yoga! This 90 minute all levels class offers an introduction to stand up paddle boarding, an hour long yoga flow on the water, and the incredible experience of floating savasana.
Meet on land for an overview of paddle basics – learn how to kneel, stand, basic stroke technique, turns, and what to do if you fall! Then we launch and paddle for about ten minutes before anchoring down the boards and moving through a creative sequence designed to warm and strengthen the body, stretch all your paddle muscles, and quiet and calm the mind.
Class ends with a mellow restorative relaxation on the boards with the kiss of the sun on your skin.
No yoga or paddle experience necessary. All equipment and instruction provided.
Private SUP Yoga Class Rates
Adult: $80
Bring Your Own Board: $60
What to Expect in a SUP Yoga class:
Come ready to have a great time and get wet! We begin class with an introduction to stand up paddle boarding on the beach. You will learn how to paddle, turn, get up and down, and what to do if you fall! An instructor will help you launch, and we head for a ten to fifteen minute paddle to warm up the body before anchoring down and moving through a mellow yoga flow on the boards. We explore sun salutations, steady poses, and even inversions for the adventurous! The class concludes with a deep relaxation on the water, with the sound of waves lapping at your board.
Why SUP Yoga?
From a physical standpoint, SUP yoga is an excellent way to increase core stabilization, train balance, and target the smaller muscles that may be neglected or overlooked in strength training or fast-paced power yoga. Because the paddle board is an unstable surface, it is necessary to slow down, focus intently, and move carefully into and out of each posture.
A studio practice offers regularity and consistency, both of which allow the practitioner to become confident and steady in a yoga practice. However, repetition can also allow the practice to become stagnant or stale. SUP yoga incorporates new challenge, which brings the yogi back to a novice state of mind. Even the most simple postures, adapted to water, find new layers of depth to explore. On the water, the only mirror is one’s reflection. The only music is the symphony of water lapping, bird cries, and the steady rhythm of the breath.
Yogic wisdom recognizes that both the external universe and the internal universe are composed of the five elements: earth, air, fire, water, and ether (space). In yoga practice, we connect with earth as it supports our bodies, the air that travels into and out of our lungs, a fire that ignites within our bodies, building heat through the postures, and ether as we explore the sense of our body in space. The water element may be explored through fluidity of practice, or steady yin postures – but what better way to incorporate this element than by practicing on water?
The water element is the receptive, fluid, female aspect of nature, associated with the yin principle. Water is also the lifeblood of the human species and planet. The earth is covered with water, the blood that flows in our veins is made of it, and the womb from which we emerge is filled with it. Without it, the human body quickly withers and dies. A natural clarity and peace comes from drawing near to water, whether river, lake, or ocean. SUP yoga offers a unique opportunity to integrate and balance all five elements in a cohesive practice- uniting earth, air, fire, water, and ether.
Practicing yoga on the water invites excitement, playfulness, and fun to our yoga practice. Enjoying a deep relaxation with the sun warming the body is a delightful experience that should not be missed. SUP yoga is, simply put, an experience of bliss.