I have been wanting to try SUP yoga for years, but no one would ever do it with me in California or DC. So imagine my surprise when we moved to Bahrain and my first (and best) friend there turned out to be a certified SUP yoga instructor! Haunani is an awesome yoga instructor on land AND at sea, and was the perfect person to introduce me to this challenging but very fun activity.

I was lucky enough to be able to do SUP yoga several times, and to take one of my friends with me to try it as well. One of the biggest stumbling blocks people have with SUP yoga is the idea of how hard it must be. And, obviously, it is a totally different experience than doing yoga on dry land. But if you have an awesome teacher like Haunani, you don’t have to be worried.

What to wear to SUP yoga

Wondering what to wear? The short answer is: Anything you want, as long as you’re OK with it getting wet. You might not fall off your board (though it’s totally fine if you do!), but you’ll probably need to get into the water to get on your board in the first place, and you may also get hot during the class and want to cool off. I generally wear surf leggings or yoga leggings that dry quickly (e.g. not cotton), a normal sports bra and a normal shirt. But lots of people wear just a bathing suit, or a bathing suit with a rash guard top. You should also wear some sunscreen, and you may want to consider a hat, or sunglasses with a floating strap. Just don’t wear sunglasses without a floating strap, unless you are very OK with losing the sunglasses forever.

What to expect

SUP yoga will probably be a little easier for you if you have some experience doing regular yoga and/or stand-up paddleboarding, but it’s totally fine if you don’t have either. Doing yoga on a SUP board is a unique thing, and your instructor knows that. Haunani always starts by having everyone sit on their board, grab the rails, and rock back and forth to get a feel for how it reacts in the water. Your instructor also will explain how to get into different poses–because moving from pose to pose isn’t the same as on land–and how to balance on the board in poses that may normally be pretty easy. But expect a core workout: even just standing or kneeling on the board will engage your abs!

So, is SUP yoga as hard as it sounds?

Yes and no. You probably won’t be doing as many poses, or doing them in the same way, as your normal yoga practice. You also are unlikely to be moving as quickly as you may be used to moving. The instructor may introduce some more challenging poses if the class as a whole seems to be more stable on the boards, but if everyone is having a hard time, they will stick to the easier stuff.

But, keep in mind that SUP yoga doesn’t always get easier each time. There are a lot of factors that can have an impact, from the conditions of the water to the way you’re feeling that day. So you may also be able to do something easily on one day and then be wobbly and fall into the water another day (like me). That’s the beauty of it — you don’t have to be perfect.

And even though I am not exactly the best at SUP yoga (or regular yoga, for that matter), I loved being able to do yoga while actually ON the water–it’s even better than doing yoga near the water. You should totally try it! Particularly if you have the opportunity to take a class from Haunani.

I hope my experience can help you overcome any concerns you may have about trying SUP yoga, but please let me know if you have any questions I might be able to answer!

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