Paddleboard yoga, the best of the wet and the dry

By Andrea Cranfield

YOGA has been around for hundreds of years but rose in popularity in the western world in the 1980s. Now it’s a staple in most fitness classes. Paddleboarding also goes back a long way, but only recently became popular in North America.

It’s probably safe to say that most people have heard of or maybe even tried both, but have they ever combined the two? The idea is simple: doing yoga poses on a paddleboard while floating on the water.

It sounds difficult, but Jodi Bigelow, who runs Paddlefit in Ottawa said it’s great exercise, not to mention calming, confidence-building and with lovely scenery.

Bigelow started Paddlefit four years ago and said at that time hardly anybody was paddleboarding in Ottawa. Since then, “It’s really taken off, it’s been great,” he said.

Bigelow said some companies take paddleboard yoga class participants out into the water and drop an anchor while they do the class, but he takes classes out into the water at Meech Lake, Bate Island, Rideau Falls, Aylmer Beach and Jacques Cartier Park, and just lets people float.

The company supplies equipment to those who don’t have any.

“We incorporate a bit more movement of the board, like we’ll move from one location to another. We’re just trying to discover a blend of yoga moves with a SUP (stand up paddleboarding) skill,” said Bigelow. “Because there’s a bit more wobble and a bit more shake to a board, so it’s a bit more challenging than a standard yoga class in a studio.”

Because the board does shake more on the water, it helps people learn to balance because their stabilizing muscles are always activated.

And, Bigelow said, paddleboard yoga connects you with nature. “You hear the water and the birds and the wind is blowing in your hair,” he said.

Paddleboard yoga boards are wider and flatter than normal ones. Some are squared off at both ends. “They’re really stable,” Bigelow said. “Picture your yoga mat and make it five inches thick and paddle that out on the water, I’m exaggerating a bit but it is basically a big thick mat.”

Beginners usually start with low-centre-of-gravity yoga poses and a lot of stretches to get used to balancing on the water. “The higher you stand up, the more challenging it becomes,” Bigelow said.

Bigelow has added surfing classes to the Paddlefit calendar. You don’t need an ocean to go surfing, he said, because, “We have high water in Ottawa, we’re kind of blessed with a couple of really nice waves.”

The most popular is called the Wall Wave, off Bate Island, “maybe shoulder high when it’s really pumping so it’s a really good wave,” Bigelow said. And it’s close to shore, suitable for beginners. If someone misses the wave or falls off, it’s a quick paddle to get back out and try again.

This wave disappears once the river’s water level drops, but the Dessert Wave further downstream has whitewater all summer. But it’s in the middle of the river, so if you miss the wave, you have to paddle to shore and walk for about 20 minutes to get back to it.

“It’s got some kickback and it’s more like a Hawaii style wave, like an ocean wave where it’s actually breaking so it’s got some real power,” Bigelow explained.

The biggest drawback to Ottawa surfing? According to Bigelow, the water can be really cold.

He said normally people are afraid to fall in the water. But once they do, they realize that all that happened is they got wet and they climb back on their boards and continue with the class. He said they think falling off means “I couldn’t do it.” But once they get back on their boards, Bigelow said people’s faces change and they become more open to learning because their fear of failure is gone.

He urges people to, “Listen to the waves, feel the board move under your feet … we have a short summer in Canada, let’s get outside and enjoy what you like doing outside.” 

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