Paddleboard Yoga Safety

With Float Ohm SUP you can be sure you will have a totally fun and super safe experience on the water. Kim & Carrie have both completed 40 hours of SUP yoga teacher training with Fluid SUP & Stoked Yogi. All teachers are certified Paddlefit SUP coaches and have been trained in water safety and board rescue techniques.

Can you swim?

Before any SUP yoga class, we will always ask for a verbal confirmation if you can swim, even if you've come to class many times before! It's for everyone's safety and complies with our insurance policy. Yes we are insured!

What if I can't swim? We can offer private lessons where we will provide you with a waist pack PFD to practice with it on, and you will have that personal 1:1 experience, with a Float Ohm SUP coach right by your side making sure you have fun and feel comfortable!

PFD's

First things first, PFD! You've gotta have one! When paddling we always always always wear a waist pack PFD, it's our favorite piece of equipment to paddle with because if you happen to fall in, a quick pull tag inflates the PFD for you. Waist packs have to be worn at all times to comply with water safety laws.

Wearing a PFD while doing yoga? Don't worry! If you can swim you don't have to wear it. We will always provide a coast guard approved orange PFD, attached to the front of the paddle board, it has to be on board to comply with water safety laws, but you do not have to have it on. If you prefer to wear it, that is always welcomed and encouraged too!

Land Demo

We will go over the basics of water safety on the board, help you size your paddle which is important to keep your shoulders and back comfy. We will also teach you how to mount the board and teach you how to get back on your paddle board in case you were to fall in. Each class starts with a bit of paddling instruction as well to get you going.

Whistle Signal

The teacher of any SUP yoga class will always be equipped with a whistle and a tow rope. If you hear the whistle it means time to paddle into the dock, that might because severe weather is coming (yes we always have a phone with an amazing radar app on), or somebody may have been injured. Either way it's our water safety signal.

Advanced Asana (Postures)

Every posture on the board becomes intricate and somewhat of a balance posture, that is what is so incredible about paddle board yoga. We love practicing arm balancing postures on land but we will not teach certain postures on the water. Bakasana or crow pose, we don't cue this pose in class, because the board is an unpredictable and unstable surface.

Even if you have a rock solid Bakasana arm balance, a wave comes rolling under your yoga paddle board, and it moves forward or backward you could be face planting pretty hard, face planting from crow pose can mean a broken nose! :( possibly black eyes too, we want to protect your pretty faces, so we don't cue this in class.

Headstand! This one we do cue and love to play with in any paddle board yoga class. The steady forearm base or tripod will allow you to be safe on your board, and if the paddle board moves or you fall, no big deal! You either get a nice refreshing swim, or you end up sitting on the nose of your board, super fun, and super safe! All postures like headstand are cued during our little moment of free play and exploration time and not a required posture by any means! You are always welcome to just sit in breath in fact sometimes that is just what the body and mind needs.

Anchors

We use SUP yoga anchors in all of our paddle board yoga classes because we think they create an experience where you can let go, connect with your breath, and not worry about drifting or paddling. Once we paddle to our class location, we drop anchors, stow our paddles under our tie downs, and let the stress slip away and start to flow.

Leashes

We never use leashes in our SUP yoga classes, we feel that when the board is anchored and we are practicing close to the river shoreline they are unnecessary and get in the way of your practice.

However, a leash is a crucial piece of safety equipment when paddling in any large body of water, including some of the local lakes. Your paddle board is your best flotation and rescue device, if you fall in- you want to be able to get back on, and if your board floats away, that is never good, the leash prevents this.

If you are NOT wearing a leash and your board floats away- if possible ALWAYS swim to the shore and not after your board, especially if it's drifting away from shore.

WARNING: there are many conditions where leashes can be dangerous and you need a different style (such as a leash that attaches at the waist and has a quick release button). Stand up paddlers have unfortunately drown when wearing the wrong type of leash in rough white water and been trapped by their leash. If you are going to use a leash be sure you have the appropriate equipment for paddling conditions and you know how to remove it if necessary.

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