Paddle Board Yoga in Portugal
Paddle Board Yoga in Portugal is a must for yoga lovers this summer. Paddle Board Yoga or SUP Yoga is a variation of SUP (stand-up paddle boarding). Paddle Board Yoga combines the best of SUP with the best of yoga by practicing asana (yoga pastures) on a SUP Board.
SUP is a very beginner-friendly sport and was born in the 1940s when Waikiki surfers stood on boards and started to navigate through the waves using a long paddle. On the other hand, yoga which originated in Rishikesh, India, is a thousand years old practice.
Paddle Board Yoga in Portugal is becoming more and more popular. The sport is a perfect combination of nature appreciation and physical and mental exercise and Portugal provides the perfect sport to practice it.
For who is SUP Yoga in Portugal?
Paddle Board Yoga is suitable for all ages and all levels of experience. SUP is a very beginner-friendly sport as a half an hour introduction lesson will be enough for you to manoeuvre the board to practice Paddle Board Yoga.
Paddle Board Yoga, in terms of the yoga, is also indicated for different levels of experience as the asanas (postures) will be adapted according to the level of the group.
As such, the Paddle Board Yoga session would be suitable for both beginner yogis who are exploring this practice for the first time as well as more experienced yogis and yoginis.
Paddle Board Yoga in Portugal is ideal for people who love the ocean and contact with nature. Also for people who like fitness and practicing sport as Paddle Board Yoga is a full-body workout! In recent years, water-loving yogis—some with board sport experience and some without—have embraced Paddle Board Yoga as a practice that brings a sense of joyful freedom to a standard earth-bound yoga practice.
Where can you do SUP Yoga in Portugal??
SUP yoga in Portugal is practiced in the most serene of settings: an idyllic ocean bay, a glassy and quiet lake, even a slow-moving river. Paddle Board Yoga in Portugal is very popular in Cascais a peaceful fishermen village about half an hour away from Lisbon.
Cascais has stunning beaches where white sand meets the crystal clear water of the Atlantic. The variety of bays allows you to have a nice and quiet bay all year around.
According to the weather and ocean conditions, the most suitable bay will be chosen to guarantee a joyful SUP yoga in Cascais. In Cascais Bay it’s always possible to find calm water.
By who?
SUP Yoga in Cascais is a practice designed by Ana Macedo, a 33-year-old Yogini traveller, adventurous, artistic and nature lover. Ana is a yoga teacher, as well as student.
As her Yoga principles and beliefs deepened over the years she decided to do more specialised courses although she claims her students to be her best teachers.
As she presently lives in Cascais, she decided to join her passion for yoga and the ocean and became a devotee of Paddle Board Yoga. Ana’s specialty are Hatha Yoga classes, but also enjoys going further into other yoga areas and experiences.
To Ana, SUP yoga is a practice of meditation, asana (physical postures) and Yoga Nidra (relaxation). Bringing these practices together incorporate a new way to do Yoga sitting, standing or lying on a SUP Paddleboard.
Ana’s SUP Yoga sessions in Cascais give the opportunity to develop a greater presence, more focus and remarkable body awareness, all in perfect harmony with the elements around us. And, it’s fun!
Benefits of Paddle Board Yoga in Portugal:
- It’s really good for your health. SUP Yoga helps you to reduce stress while strengthening, toning and stretching your body and makes you feel fantastic. It can transform your life. When you combine SUP yoga with the natural elements of sunshine, water and fresh air, you get the added benefits that nature always provides. If you’re an ocean lover who cares about a healthy body, this is definitely for you!
- Improve your core strength on an unstable platform. By taking the practice of yoga out on a SUP board, you increase the challenge. You no longer have the stable earth, so you are forced to use your core stabiliser muscles. With that, you get a more challenging and rewarding workout. The technique is a bit different to traditional yoga in that we have certain poses and sequences that flow better than others. For the most part you can do many of the same poses on a yoga board and encourages you to get better by improving your balance skills. Just paddling in and out in itself is a great core workout.
- Learn to enjoy nature in a new way and break through fears you may have of deep water. It’s an amazing experience to stand on a yoga board or be in a pose and look below the water to see fish or other sea life. It is so nice and exciting! On the contrary, if you have a fear of the water or sea life, this practice can also help you to break through this fear. Appreciating the blue sky is very uplifting. SUP yoga gives you close contact to the birds above you. Paddle Board Yoga it brings you closer to nature.
- It’s a great way to bond! SUP yoga is a great experience to do with friends or family. Standup Paddle Yoga is an amazing experience on your own but even more magical when shared. Just being on the water with the sunshine is so blissful and relaxing.
- Anyone can do it! Ana has given SUP sessions to ocean lovers from 5 year olds to people over 70. This is the amazing part about it. Unlike other board sports, it doesn’t really require a lot of technical skills. Like with many other sports, with time and practice, you will get stronger, more agile and flexible to be able to do more advanced asanas. If you can do a yoga posture on land, you can eventually learn to do it on the SUP board.
Does this combination of nature, physical and mental exercise sound good to you?
Please don’t hesitate to contact us for more details or feel free to book your SUP yoga experience in Cascais now!
