Stand Up Paddle Boarding
I have been obsessed with stand up paddleboarding for years. And I don’t mean in the “this is one of my favorite activities and I do it all the time” sort of obsessions, I mean “I’m procrastinating and I want to look at hundreds of people stand up paddleboarding while desperately wishing I was one of them” sort of obsession.
When I worked at Yoga Journal we ran a story on SUP yoga with Gillian Gibree, and it made me want to get out there even more than before.
Finally, after years of creepy stalking, I had my chance.
When I was visiting my friends in Southern California for Thanksgiving, we went kayaking and stand up paddleboarding on Saturday. The rainy weather from the day before had finally broken, and it was even starting to warm up outside. We all had a blast cruising around in the kayaks, and as you can see, we took it very seriously (I swear I didn’t have my feet up on the kayak the whole time, and my friend Meagan really did help me paddle in our double kayak… just not when this picture was taken).
The harbor was beautiful, and after a lap around a large portion of it, we decided to switch things up and I got to try my hand at a paddleboard. (You can see me standing in the back in the blue shirt behind the yellow kayak in the photo below)
When I first kneeled on the board I was convinced I was going to fall in. I’m known for being a spaz, and learning something new is not usually in my favor. And although the weather was warm for November (mid 70’s) there was no way I was going to survive a plunge into the freezing, dirty harbor. I think my absolute resolution that I could never fall in made me more steady and cautious.
After a few minutes on my knees I decided to try my hand at a few downward facing dogs to see what the board felt like when my center of gravity was higher while still having the stability of kneeling. Afterward I felt stable enough to try to stand up. I got a few quick lessons from my friend’s dad on how to turn and stop, and we took off again for a shorter lap around the harbor.
After a few minutes I started to be less paranoid about falling in, and I started to really get into it. I was worried I was getting too confident and I would fall in doing something stupid, but I ended up maintaining my footing, even after a random panic in the middle of the water where I suddenly forgot how to stand (not my proudest moment I will admit).
I thought if I tried paddleboarding my obsession would subside a bit… I was severely mistaken. Now I’m starting to hunt out places near me that are smooth and calm where I can keep paddleboarding. If only the ocean I live next to wasn’t 50 degrees.
