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SUP yoga pose guide

SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard) Yoga is a unique combination of traditional yoga and the popular water sport of paddleboarding. Practicing yoga on a paddleboard adds an extra challenge to your practice, as it requires more balance and stability. Here’s a comprehensive list of SUP yoga poses suitable for practice on a paddleboard:

  1. Mountain Pose (Tadasana): Stand tall with feet hip-width apart, arms at your sides, and gaze forward. Engage your core, lengthen your spine, and relax your shoulders.
  2. Forward Fold (Uttanasana): From Mountain Pose, hinge at your hips and fold forward, bringing your chest towards your thighs. Allow your arms to hang, or hold onto your opposite elbows.
  3. Half Lift (Ardha Uttanasana): From Forward Fold, place your hands on your shins and lift your torso to create a straight line from the crown of your head to your tailbone, parallel to the ground.
  4. Plank Pose (Phalakasana): From Half Lift, step your feet back and align your wrists under your shoulders. Engage your core and maintain a straight line from your head to your heels.
  5. Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana): Lower your body to the ground from Plank Pose. Keep your hands under your shoulders and press into the ground, lifting your chest and engaging your lower back muscles.
  6. Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana): From Cobra Pose, tuck your toes and lift your hips, creating an inverted V-shape with your body. Press your heels towards the ground and engage your core.
  7. Three-Legged Dog (Tri Pada Adho Mukha Svanasana): In Downward Dog, lift one leg towards the sky, keeping your hips square. Maintain balance and control.
  8. Low Lunge (Anjaneyasana): From Three-Legged Dog, step your lifted foot forward between your hands. Lower your back knee to the ground and raise your arms overhead, engaging your core and lengthening your spine.
  9. High Lunge (Utthita Ashwa Sanchalanasana): From Low Lunge, lift your back knee off the ground and straighten your back leg. Keep your front knee bent at a 90-degree angle and raise your arms overhead.
  10. Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I): From High Lunge, pivot your back foot so that it’s flat on the ground at a 45-degree angle. Keep your front knee bent and raise your arms overhead, bringing your palms together.
  11. Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II): From Warrior I, open your hips and arms to the side, aligning your front heel with the back arch. Gaze over your front hand and bend your front knee to a 90-degree angle.
  12. Extended Side Angle (Utthita Parsvakonasana): From Warrior II, place your front forearm on your front thigh, and extend your top arm overhead, creating a straight line from your top hand to your back foot.
  13. Reverse Warrior (Viparita Virabhadrasana): From Warrior II, flip your front palm up and reach it toward the sky as you slide your back hand down your back leg. Gently arch your back and gaze upward.
  14. Triangle Pose (Trikonasana): From Warrior II, straighten your front leg and reach your front hand towards your front ankle, shin, or the ground. Extend your top arm towards the sky, opening your chest and hips.
  15. Wide-Legged Forward Fold (Prasarita Padottanasana): Stand with feet wide apart, toes pointing forward. Hinge at the hips, folding forward and placing your hands on the ground or grasping your ankles.
  16. Tree Pose (Vrksasana): Stand on one leg and place the sole of the other foot on your inner thigh or calf. Bring your hands together in prayer position at your heart or extend them overhead.
  17. Eagle Pose (Garudasana): From Mountain Pose, cross one leg over the other, resting your foot on your standing leg’s calf or ankle. Cross your arms in front of your chest, with the opposite arm on top, and bend your elbows, bringing your palms together.
  18. Chair Pose (Utkatasana): Stand with feet hip-width apart. Bend your knees and lower your hips as if sitting in a chair. Raise your arms overhead, keeping your core engaged and your chest lifted.
  19. Boat Pose (Navasana): Sit with knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Lean back and lift your feet off the ground, balancing on your sit bones. Extend your legs and arms, forming a V-shape with your body.
  20. Seated Forward Fold (Paschimottanasana): Sit with legs extended in front of you. Inhale and lift your arms overhead, then exhale and fold forward, reaching for your feet, ankles, or shins.
  21. Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana): Lie on your back with knees bent and feet hip-width apart. Press your feet into the ground, lifting your hips and engaging your glutes. Clasp your hands under your body, rolling your shoulders under for support.
  22. Supine Spinal Twist (Supta Matsyendrasana): Lie on your back and draw one knee into your chest. Guide the knee across your body, allowing it to rest on the ground while keeping both shoulders on the ground. Extend your arms out to the sides and turn your gaze in the opposite direction of your knee.
  23. Happy Baby Pose (Ananda Balasana): Lie on your back and bring your knees toward your chest. Hold the outside edges of your feet, keeping your knees wide and your feet flexed. Gently pull your feet down, feeling a stretch in your hips and lower back.
  24. Child’s Pose (Balasana): Kneel on your paddleboard with your big toes touching and your knees wide apart. Sit back on your heels and fold forward, extending your arms in front of you and resting your forehead on the ground.
  25. Pigeon Pose (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana): From Downward Dog, bring one knee forward, placing it behind your corresponding wrist. Extend your back leg straight behind you and fold forward, resting your forehead on your hands or the ground.
  26. Camel Pose (Ustrasana): Kneel with your knees hip-width apart and your hips stacked over your knees. Place your hands on your lower back or reach back to grasp your heels. Lift your chest and gaze upward, arching your back.
  27. Cat-Cow Pose (Marjaryasana-Bitilasana): Start on your hands and knees with your wrists aligned under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Inhale and arch your back, gazing up (Cow Pose). Exhale and round your spine, tucking your chin to your chest (Cat Pose).
  28. Seated Twist (Ardha Matsyendrasana): Sit with one leg extended and the other bent, foot flat on the ground outside the extended leg’s thigh. Place the opposite elbow on the bent knee, twisting your torso and gazing over your shoulder.
  29. Bound Angle Pose (Baddha Konasana): Sit with the soles of your feet together, allowing your knees to fall open to the sides. Hold your feet or ankles and hinge forward at your hips, keeping your spine long.
  30. Corpse Pose (Savasana): Lie on your back with your legs extended and your arms at your sides, palms facing up. Close your eyes and relax, focusing on your breath and allowing your body to fully release any tension. This restorative pose is typically practiced at the end of a yoga session, allowing for a period of relaxation and integration of the practice.

Remember, while practicing SUP yoga, it’s essential to maintain proper alignment, listen to your body, and adjust your practice as needed. Start with beginner poses and gradually progress to more advanced poses as your balance, strength, and flexibility improve. Always practice in calm water conditions, and consider using an anchor to keep your paddleboard stable during your practice.

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