You may have heard of yoga, hot yoga or even goat yoga, but stand up paddle board yoga is starting to make its way across the Maritimes, including the town of Shediac, N.B.
The new type of yoga has been popping up across the country, with people participating in places like Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver.
As the sport has grown in popularity, people have been finding many benefits to it including Anne Blinn.
Blinn took up the exercise after she was injured in a car accident more than 10 years ago and later she became a yoga instructor.
But teaching it while on a paddle board, floating on the water, was an unexpected turn of events.
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“Your paddle board becomes your yoga mat and nature becomes your studio,” Blinn said.
This particular type of yoga, at the Shediac Paddle Shack, has the paddle boards anchored in the water to keep them upright and from there, it’s up to the person to stay on.
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The goal is the same of regular yoga though: clear your mind.
Alex Swartman, who owns the Paddle Shack, says people should go with the flow.
“I usually refer to it like riding a bike,” he said. “The first time you might be a little wobbly but give yourself five to 10 minutes and you get your sea legs and you become very stable very quick.”
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Blinn said when on the board, people should try to remain in the present because if not, “you will fall in the water.”
Swartman added that the sport started about 10 years ago, but as it grew in popularity over the last few years, he decided to start offering classes last summer.
Josee Bourgeois also tried out paddle board yoga on Tuesday for what was her second time on the water.
She said she hasn’t fallen off yet, but admitted it’s a lot harder to do than practicing on solid ground.
In order to stay upright, the important thing is to be mindful of your thoughts and let the stress float away.
“You do realize that you are on unstable ground, so to say, but once you get into it you don’t think about falling,” Bourgeois said.
“You get the elements of nature, the calming soothing effects of the water.”
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Being on the water, different muscle groups are used compared to when doing yoga on solid ground, Blinn said, and as a result, people may walk away a little sore after the first few sessions.
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