Paddleboard Yoga with Dennis Hensley

After getting a quick lesson in how to navigate, our teacher Katie paddled with us from the beach to an anchored rope line in the bay where we attached our boards. Then the class proper started with no gongs, no Enya, just the sound of the wind and the waves and Katie’s expert instruction. As a semi-experienced yogi, it was interesting to discover what poses were feasible on a paddleboard and what had to be modified. You’re thinking, ‘Please don’t go into Crescent, Katie. There’s no way.’ Luckily, there was no Crescent but we did do a twist of Warrior 2 on one knee with a foot hooked over the board’s side that I kind nailed. I fell in five times while my yoga pal Scott only fell in once but when the water’s that gorgeous and refreshing, falling in is half the fun.

I love to take yoga classes when I travel especially if the setting is somewhere really unique, like a skyscraper in Dubai or a beach in Zihuatanejo. My favorite travel yoga experience to-date came courtesy of Sup Fit on the island of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. What made the class special was not just the gorgeous locale — near the Marriott resort beach — but the fact that we were on paddleboards. [This story is written by ManAboutWorld Global Correspondent, Dennis Hensley, who is shown in these photos posing up a yoga storm.]

My favorite part was at the end when you lay there like you’re dead AKA savasana. You’re facing the sky with your hands dangling in the water while Katie says a few inspiring words about the “ebb and flow” of life and it just doesn’t get any better than that. Scott told me after that a fish brushed up against his hand during savasana as if to remind him exactly where he was. I tried not to be jealous.

So if you find yourself in St. Thomas—perhaps on a cruise—and want to do something unique for your body, mind and soul, check out Sup Fit VI paddleboard yoga. Our class was $29 for 75 minutes and they also offer a Sup Fit resistance training class that if that’s more your thing. Getting touched by a fish is extra.

Ready for your own yoga paddleboard experience?:

• Find them online at www.supyogavi.com
• Find them on Facebook.