CURLY GIRL RUNS: New yoga classes take to the waves

 

“Gently draw your right knee up to your body and roll to your left side."
The yoga instructor’s voice is soft and soothing and I start to relax. Closing my eyes, I pull my leg over into a good stretch.
I’m about to try and deepen the stretch when instructor Grace Stolarz adds another — vital — bit of advice: “But don’t roll too far or you’ll roll right off!”
This is no standard yoga class and my mat is not your typical purple towel.
No, this class is in the great outdoors and I’m on a standup paddleboard.
Yup. Standup paddleboard — or SUP — yoga is taking off on calm bodies of water near you.
The sport was either invented in India or Northern California — a Google search reveals conflicting claims — but one thing is clear: the practice is the hottest thing on lakes this summer.
Our class, put on by SUP Dude Yoga, is held out of Grahams Grove in Dartmouth, where a slightly chilly breeze is balanced by a lake as warm as bathwater.
There are three of us, all SUP newbies, and we start with a quick lesson about the boards.
Standup paddleboards are beefier versions of ...more