Floating yoga class on Irondequoit Creek tests newbies

 

Doing yoga on a gently rocking paddleboard on Irondequoit Creek is a mix of exercise, playfulness and pushing the edges of your comfort zone.

The startling beauty of the surroundings and the thrill of trying yoga poses on an unsteady surface make floating yoga — "flo yo" — both relaxing and exhilarating.

"It is an opportunity to experience nature like no other in Rochester," says Karen Parker of Perinton, who celebrated her 40th^{birthday in July by trying standup paddleboard yoga, aka SUP yoga. She loved it.}

Standup paddleboarding began in the 1940s when surfers in Hawaii stood on their boards and used long paddles to navigate through waves, according to Yoga Journal. Yoga on the water is a more recent fitness fad that reached Canandaigua last summer. This summer, it took off at BayCreek Paddling Center in Penfield. A mile outside the city limits, where Irondequoit Creek winds through tall reeds from Ellison Park to Irondequoit Bay, a sign welcomes you to "Rochester's secret wilderness."

On a recent Tuesday night, yoga instructor Lynne Staropoli Boucher welcomes four first-timers and asks about any ...more