SUP Yoga - Sydney, Australia

In part 1 of our travels we had a jammed pack few days, check it out here! However Friday was a day to try something completely new - Stand Up Paddle-board (SUP) Yoga.

As you may know we started Yoga back in January and so far we are really enjoying it. Our thoughts on the experience are here.

I had avoided looking into what was involved with SUP Yoga for fear of chickening out and that proved to be the right move. We pulled up to Manly Cove and joined a group of people on the beach. Once there were 10 of us an instructor joined and the full scale of what we had signed up to was revealed.

Step 1: Paddle-board around the cove

Step 2: Throw your oar into a kayak stationed on the other side of the cove

Step 3: Paddle on your knees to the designated area and secure both ends of your board to the parallel ropes set up in the water

Or use a Laura :)

Step 4: Yoga

Step 5: Undo paddle-board, collect oar, paddle back

Seemed simple. That was until you factored in that neither of us had paddle boarded. This was all happening in the sea, complete with waves. Oh and you know fear of falling in and not being able to get back on. Not to mention deadly Australian wildlife that is never far away. 

Thankfully I seemed to figure out the paddle boarding part and while it may not have been graceful my style got me from the beach to the yoga area. Laura’s attempt was a little less successful. In fact Laura became a pro and getting back on but a high centre of gravity and erm boobs seemed to make staying up a little harder. The benefit was some great photos though – thanks wifey!

The yoga itself was enjoyable. Not quite as hard as an actual yoga class but that may have been because the moment I really felt the stretch seemed to coincide with the moment I felt the water. The warm water made the falling in almost refreshing but the getting back on the board was hard work and certainly put me off taking too many dives.

I pulled out more poses that I ever thought I would and really enjoyed that the class was paced in a way that allowed you to try as hard as you liked. This also meant that while the pro’s were balancing in impossible poses Laura and I were doing our own SUP Yoga photo shoot.

The group itself was a real mix. Some had paddle boarded. Some had yoga’d but non-one had done Stand Up Paddle-board Yoga so everyone faced their own challenge.

We can’t recommend it enough though and were sad we couldn’t fit a second session in.

At the end while packing away our boards and paddles we found out that our instructor was from Idaho – what are the chances! Like Laura she had left Idaho some 10 years earlier and while Laura had reached the less sunny climes of the UK the instructor had made her way to Oz.

If you fancy trying SUP Yoga while in Sydney check out the website here: http://www.flowmocean.com.au/ 

Namaste