While some avid beachgoers have started preparing their bodies for sun-soaked sand and clear, blue waves, Yogis can experience the beach before ideal weather arrives! How? By practicing indoor SUP (standup paddle) yoga! We’ll introduce you to indoor SUP yoga, and then go through our indoor SUP yoga board reviews.
From Paddleboard to Yogaboard
Stand up paddleboard yoga, or SUP yoga, is a newer form yoga that is rapidly gaining popularity. You can read more about it in our introduction to SUP yoga. What’s neat about indoor SUP yoga is that you can bring the beach, pond, ocean, or pool to you right at home or in a gym. Indoor SUP yoga boards let you develop core strength and balance as you would on unstable water.
Your Own Oasis Rain or Shine
Indoor SUP yoga boards are meant to be used on solid ground. However, they will provide greater challenge to any Yogi hoping for the benefits of aquatic SUP yoga while avoiding the sand, sun, and salt from a beach. There’s the added bonus of of avoiding water for non-swimmers, as well as the difficulty when attempting to remount one’s board while still in deep water.
For water lovers, SUP yoga helps you prepare for aquatic yoga, increase overall yoga skill level, and heighten your ability to maintain posture on an unstable surface. Indoor SUP yoga skills transfer very well to aquatic SUP yoga. Plus, you can practice indoor SUP yoga in any weather or season.
Most US cities now have classes that focus on indoor SUP yoga. These classes provide their own indoor SUP yoga boards, but to practice at home, you’ll need to buy your own.
Best indoor SUP yoga board review: the Indo Yoga Board
For indoor practice, the Indo Yoga Board, is your best bet, as they were the first company to invent the idea of indoor SUP yoga boards. However, their quality comes at a price, at over $300 for the cheapest models.
Indo Yoga Boards are availabe in four variations all using premium materials: cork, cork trio, natural, and natural trio. Cork boards include a birchwood deck with cork surface, while natural boards are all wood. Trio versions come with three, inflatable IndoFLO cushions. These cushions add extra instability for a greater challenge. Beginners, though, should start without the cushion inserts first.
To be honest, the Indo Yoga Board without cushions will already be difficult for absolute beginners. If you are going to try indoor SUP yoga, you should probably have a little bit of experience with yoga already or even surfing/paddleboarding. That said, most people can at least go through workouts with the basic Indo Yoga Board, however slowly. Adding the cushions really raises the difficult level, and we only recommend that for experienced users.
A less-known alternative: the Powers Yoga Board
If you’d like a slightly more affordable indoor yoga board meant to be used turf-side, the Yoga Board by Powers Yoga is another great option, while cheaper than the Indo board. You can choose from four colors: aqua, purple, dark blue, or black. This wooden indoor yoga board sports a yoga mat adhered to the board’s surface, which might provide a better grip. Because this is a newer and less popular product, there isn’t much feedback yet about how long the surface holds on under long-term use. Also the sticky surface is both a pro and a con, depending on if you are trying to mimic slippery aquatic SUP conditions or not.
Conclusion
Paddleboard enthusiast or not, indoor yoga boards are an exciting, new way to gain all the advantages of standup paddleboard yoga without all the risks and inconveniences of practicing on water! Of course if you so choose to try aquatic SUP yoga in the future, skills attained from practice on indoor yoga boards will greatly condition your body for this experience!