10 Best Yoga Paddle Boards in 2018

Yoga is the serene practice of gaining flexibility through movement. Working on mind and body, you take a meditative approach to aligning your spiritual and mental beliefs. Focusing on balance, yoga creates a sense of peace and inner stability. Taking your powerful routine to the water can elevate you to the next level by choosing the best sups for yoga.

Paddle boards have advanced a lot in the last few years to the point of being able to perform poses on the board. The boards on the list are thick enough to do even advanced moves without getting wet. When looking for the paddle boards for yoga remember that balance is key. A wide stance and exceptional stability is something that every board designed for yoga should offer.

Yoga Paddle Board Reviews

How To Choose The Best Yoga SUP – Buying Guide

It is important that you buy a board that can perform in all the ways that you need it to. Yoga boards are typically wider and therefore sturdier than boards you use for long distance paddles. When choosing the best SUP boards for yoga consider your experience level and lifestyle before deciding on a board. We love inflatable boards for their compact design and their portability. We also recommend opting for a midline board which is an all around good-at-everything board. This will allow you the most versatility to do just about anything with your SUP, except for racing.

Why do yoga on a paddleboard?

Yoga is an incredibly healthy and life changing practice. Whether you are new to yoga or have been practicing for years it is easy to see why this meditative stretching is so good for your health. Bringing your yoga practice onto your SUP may seem difficult but the rewards are unparalleled.

It may start out as a challenge to feel comfortable not only standing but moving around on your board but once you can wrap your head around the idea of standing on water, it becomes much easier to clear your mind. We love the freedom to be in the middle of a lake with much less distraction performing our stand up paddle board yoga routine. This will allow you to gain even more from your meditative state.

For the body, sup yoga will take your ordinary moves to the next level. Paddle boarding on its own is a great way to achieve a whole body workout. When doing yoga on your SUP you are sure to feel it in your core. Adding in the need to balance throughout every pose you will undoubtedly get a much better without than ever before.

For the soul, there is something so peaceful about being on the water. Whether you choose to incorporate meditation into your yoga practice or not, you are guaranteed to feel relaxed and rejuvenated after a day spent out on the water. You can’t help but have a connection with nature as you find yourself gliding through the water to the sounds birds around you.

So which board is right for me?

We looked for boards specifically designed for yoga. All of the boards on our list have the basics to make up a great board with an additional factor of increased stability and a larger thickness to keep your from getting wet.

When looking for a SUP it is important to know terminology and features of the best inflatable stand up paddle board. Being able to understand how these details will affect your ride will help you determine which board is right for you. We have put together a list of everything you need to know.

HULL TYPE

There are two types of hulls, and both will work for SUP yoga. Planing hulls are built for stability. This is perfect for yoga out on the water. If you are new to SUP yoga, then we would recommend starting out with this type of hull on your board. Displacement hulls are more about speed, at the expense of stability. If you are more experienced at yoga, and you have good balance, then this hull will be fine. A displacement hull will also get you places quicker, and you can use the board for more than just yoga.

WEIGHT CAPACITY

Obviously, you want a board which can hold your weight. You also want to think about any additional weight on the board. If you are going out with yourself and nothing else, then you will be fine, but if you have a yoga mat, a picnic lunch, a book, or any other paddleboard accessories, then you need to take into account the extra weight and add that. We would also recommend adding at least 20% to your total weight before choosing your board. When you are doing yoga, the board can shift in ways it is not used to. The extra weight capacity will give you the extra stability that you will need.

BOARD LENGTH

You do not want to skimp on the size when it comes to your paddleboard. If you get a shorter paddleboard, you can get around in the water quicker and make sharper turns, but that is not what we are looking for here. A longer board may be slower, but it will give youth space you need to do yoga. A good compromise is a board around 10-11 feet in length. This gives you enough room to lie to flat on your board, and also enough room to move about when you are on your feet. This length will still give you good maneuverability when you are out on the water.

MATERIAL

Your material will depend on the type of SUP. Solid SUPs have a foam core. We always recommend investing in high-quality materials, and with the foam, you should also be looking for foam which is waterproof. Look for durable materials on the top of your board, and material which is comfortable. You are going to be spending a lot of time on your board. For an inflatable SUP, we recommend looking at heavy-duty PVC, especially marine-grade PVC. Again, you should be looking at the comfort of the materials too.

MEASUREMENTS

We have already talked about the length of your board, but let’s look at the thickness and width. The thickness is important with inflatable boards, and we would recommend at least five inches, if not six. This will give you good stability, and allow you to really fill the board with air. When it comes to the width, you need a board which is wide. Most YSUPs have wider boards than standard SUPs. You need this extra width for stability and also to give you the space to move around and stretch out.

QUALITY

When we talk about the quality of the product, we are often talking about the price. Everyone wants a top-quality yoga paddleboard, but they do not want to have to pay for it. We always recommend paying a little extra to ensure that you have a quality board. From experience, we know that spending a little more money on your initial purchase, will save you a lot more money in the long-run. A good quality board will last longer and will do what you need it to do. You will not have to worry about replacing parts, or replacing the board altogether. A high-quality board will allow you to do the best yoga possible, and get the most out of your trip to the water.

FEATURES

When you are buying your paddleboard, it is always nice togged some extras in the deal. With a YSUP, there are some extras which you can look for. It is always a benefit to have your board come with a paddle, instead of having to buy a paddle. You should also look out for storage options. Some paddleboards will come with a bungee storage system for you to pack a dry bag securely. With an inflatable paddleboard, you also want to look for an included pump. We like to look for a lot of grip on the pad of the paddleboard so that we get the best grip on our feet and hands when we are moving about.

PACKAGING

With an inflatable paddleboard, you want a board which can fold down small, but you also want a board which can be transported with ease. Take a look at the system that the board uses for transport. Some inflatable paddleboards have bags which double as dry bags when the paddleboard is not inside. We like to look for a bag which will not have to be left behind when you get on the water.

FAQs

Q: What Is SUP Yoga?

A: SUP stands for stand-up paddleboard, and yoga is, well, yoga. SUP yoga is the practice of doing yoga while out on a paddleboard. As you are out on the water, you need to have great balance (which can be learned), and a great paddleboard (which can be bought). A YSUP paddleboard is a paddleboard which has been specially created to give you more stability than a regular paddleboard and allows you to move about easier when you are on the water.

Q: Why Do Yoga On A Paddleboard?

A: The question is, why not? Yoga is great for you, and paddleboarding is great for you, so why not combine the two to get the most out of the two activities. One reason why you should do yoga out in the middle of the water is the meditative aspect of it. When you are doing yoga, you try to choose surroundings which are conducive to relaxation. With yoga on a paddleboard, you are out in the middle of the water. What could be more relaxing than that?

Q: What Do You Need To Enjoy Yoga On The Water?

A: There are two things which you need: a good paddleboard and some experience with yoga. A YSUP is different from a regular paddleboard. The boards are built for yoga and to give more stability. This means that they handle differently to regular boards, and may not move through the water as easily. If you try to do yoga on a regular board, then you will be finding yourself in the water more often than not.

You should also have some yoga experience. Yoga is hard enough, but when you are trying to do it on a moving platform, it becomes all the more difficult. If you are starting out with yoga, then we recommend learning on dry land before moving out into the water.

Q: SUP Yoga Benefits?

A: The benefits to SUP yoga are numerous, just as the benefits of yoga are numerous. With any yoga, your flexibility is going to improve, you are going to lose weight, you are going to become stronger, you are getting a cardio workout, and you are meditating, all at the same time. SUP yoga is slightly different as you are on the water, but this only means that your body has to work slightly harder. With SUP yoga, you will find that your core is strengthened a lot more.

Q: Hard or Inflatable SUP Yoga Board?

A: That choice is entirely up to you. A lot of it comes down to the feel of the board. With newer inflatable boards, you can almost not tell the difference. The main two things we think about are the firmness and the portability. An inflatable board may inflate to a high psi, but if the board still has some give, then you are not going to feel comfortable doing yoga. When it comes to portability, though, inflatable boards are the way to go. If you need to walk a long way from your vehicle to the water, then an inflatable board will make that walk a lot easier.

Globo Surf Overview

Doing yoga on the water is not only a fun activity but the positive effects are sure to be felt long after you’ve left the water. An excellent form of exercise, this calming routine is an excellent cross training workout and will have your whole body feeling the routine in ways you couldn’t imagine.

All of the boards on our list have features that make yoga not only possible, but enjoyable. Their wide stance and large footprint allow you move around and shift your weight without worrying about tipping or falling. These inflatable boards are designed to ride high in the water which is perfect for yoga as you will not get wet even in choppy water. No matter which board you choose you will have a capable board to practice yoga on.

Sources

1. Doing yoga, Yoga Journal
2. Steps of Paddling, Metador Network

Love yoga? Love paddle boarding? Ever brought your practice to the water? Let us know how you like it in the comments below.