In this article, we discuss 5 reasons why you should give SUP yoga a try!
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At Atoll we’re all about expansion and connection. Most often it comes in the form of adventure into the wild. To us, an evening under the stars, telling stories around a campfire, after a long day exploring a nearby body of water, is…perfect.
But sometimes we want to use our paddle boards for additional activities that help us break through our comfort zones. And one such activity that can help you accomplish this feat is SUP yoga.
In case you haven’t heard, you can now practice yoga on your board, in the water. Does that sound exciting to you? If you don’t need any additional reasons as to why you should give it a try…
Then get out there! Across the country, there are classes and instructors eagerly waiting to guide groups through a series of yoga poses designed to strengthen your body and mind.
But in case you are the reluctant type, continue reading for five reasons that will surely persuade you to give it a go…
Until you’re completely hooked and want to spend almost every yoga class on the water.
Ready to be convinced? Let’s start with numero uno…
1. Reignite Your Passion for Yoga
As in all things in life, we pick up new hobbies, become enthralled with the activity, and over time, the mind searches for new things to discover.
This obsession with the new can be a blessing and a curse. A blessing that you are constantly trying new hobbies and meeting interesting people along the way.
And a curse because as soon as you hit a peak, it’s onto the next one. Instead of realizing it was just a peak and beyond that place of comfort lies a whole new world of opportunity.
Consider yoga for example. If you have been attending classes for years, the flows can become stagnate. You can easily predict where the class is going and not only does your mind become bored with the flow, your body now easily adapts to the practice.
In short, it becomes stale.
The best way to avoid this state is to consider looking beyond the confines of a studio room and back into nature. By transitioning to a new, and ever-changing environment, full of new challenges in the form of balance, wind, and weather, your love for yoga will become reignited. You are back in the state of discovering something new, and your love for the poses you once thought boring, becomes alive.
Consider your number one reason to give SUP yoga a try is that it will make you fall in love with yoga, and the challenge it takes to enter into a new pose, all over again.
2. Deepen Your Connection With Nature
Truth be told, there are SUP yoga classes that can be held in an indoor pool. This is the preferred setting for wintertime activities.
But in Spring, Summer, and Autumn, consider nature as your studio.
And in this setting, you are surrounded by life. There are birds singing in nearby trees, fish swimming underneath your feet, the wind blows through your hair, and the current softly sways your board as your body melts into a resting pose.
In this setting, you are alive, and so are your surroundings. Yoga was meant to be practiced outside in order to increase the energy of your breath. By being on the water, you deepen your practice, as well as your connection to the natural world. It’s this connection that lands this reason at number 2 on our 5 reasons to give SUP yoga a try.
3. Be More Present
It can be difficult to balance on a paddle board. Especially if the conditions are rough. But to come into a pose like tree, warrior 1 or 2, or even a forward fold, can test your body and your mind at the same time.
How?
Because if you don’t remain present, if you are not feeling every movement, and landing precisely where you need to be on your board, you will most likely fall in.
Life lives in the present moment. The problem is our minds are always pulling us out of it. However, during a SUP yoga class, you are forced to remain in the present or you may get wet. Consider this activity your practice into presence.
4. Increase Your Balance
Balance training is important for health.
But it might not be in the way you think…
When it comes to exercise, it is easy to fall into a pattern that is recognized by the body. After practicing the same motions, your brain becomes used to the familiarity, causing it to only use certain neurological passageways when moving.
This shows us the brilliant efficiency of the body in action.
But, if we can participate in movements the brain is not used to, it is forced to react in a brand-new way. This awakens parts of your left and right hemispheres, causing brand-new neurons to fire. As a result, scientists have found, exercise routines that involve balance, keep your brain young by increasing its neuro-passageways. And with the increase, you can often experience phenomena such as an increase in memory and higher levels of dopamine – the anti-anxiety hormone – to flow.
While you participate in SUP Yoga, the balance receptors in your body and brain are constantly fired. This jump-starts new areas of the brain and shortly after, you begin to see positive changes in your body and your brain. Pretty cool. And it’s a big one to consider in our 5 reasons to give SUP yoga a try.
5. Embrace the Challenge
Comfort kills.
Sure, it can be nice to be comfortable in life, with your living situation, bank account, and day-to-day routine.
But it can also bread stagnation. You no longer have the desire to get outside of your comfort zone and grow. This can be detrimental to your life and over time will leave you with nothing but regret.
How then, do we remedy the situation?
By introducing more challenges to our lives. And one of those useful challenges happens to be SUP yoga.
By attending a class you are taking something familiar, something comfortable, and introducing it in a way that will force you to embrace the challenge and eventually grow.
Through continued participation in classes, you will learn to embrace the discomfort, and eventually you will become a whole new person with a new understanding of who you are and what you are capable of.
Ready to embrace the challenge?
Then check out our Instagram Highlight to see what lies ahead.
Conclusion
Ready to give SUP Yoga a try? Then grab your board, search for a class, and get out there! Of course, if you’d like to practice with some of the best teachers on the east coast, and on an Atoll iSUP, then we highly suggest you reach out to Surf Skate Fitness located in New York!
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