Yoga for Paddling: Poses for Seasonal Prep

The warming weather and spring rains are cues that it’s time to shake off the winter slump and tune-up your paddling muscles. To reduce the risk of injury and optimize your body for performance on the water, it’s important to prep your shoulders, open your hips, and lengthen your side body.

Here are my top five Launch Your Season Poses to get your body paddle ready. They’re all standing poses which makes them easy to do in or out of your gear, before and/or after you paddle.

Simple Shoulder Opener

This is a chest opener that’s easy to do right before and/or after you paddle. I love it because it’s actually easy to do almost anywhere. It stretches the pectoral muscles, draws the shoulders back toward optimal alignment and helps to strengthen the weakest part of the upper back for paddlers.

• Stand with your feet parallel and sitz bones shoulder distance apart with your arms relaxed by your sides.

  

• Inhale the arms up, and on the exhale, release the arms, take your hands behind your back and clasp them together.

  

• Soften the knees and slightly stick your butt out like you’re booty dancing—yes, I’m being serious. It doesn’t matter if you don’t think you know how to booty dance, use your imagination!

  

• Lengthen your back body inhaling into your back ribs as you extend through the crown of your head. Exhale here.
• Inhale, squeeze the shoulder blades toward one another, widen your collarbones and gently look up.
• Hold for 5 breaths—deep and easy—in through the nose and out through as you continue to stand tall, draw the shoulders back and widen through the collarbones.
• Release the pose when you’re ready.

High Lunge

I love this pose because it does the double duty of strengthening the glute and hamstring of the front leg while stretching the hip flexor and quad of the back leg. If that’s not enough it also challenges your balance and opens the chest when the hands are on the hips or clasped behind the back.

• From standing, step your right leg back about one leg’s length.
• Keep your back heel lifted, and the back knee slightly bent. The front knee is more deeply bent so that the knee is right over the ankle.
• Press into the floor with your front heel (this helps to activate the glute) and your back toes. You can even think of pressing the floor away to make your legs strong and stable.
• Inhale, take your hands to your waist and squeeze the shoulders back OR take your hands and clasp them behind your back, while still squeezing the shoulders together, for a deeper chest opener.

  

• Hold for 5 breaths—deep and easy—in through the nose and out through the nose.
• Switch sides and repeat.

Warrior II

Who doesn’t need to tap into their inner warrior on the water from time to time? This pose opens the hips and builds strength and confidence. It can also help with back pain and sciatica.

• From standing, step your right leg back about one leg’s length.
• Turn your back heel down which will turn your back toes out.
• Inhale your arms up until they are extended parallel to the floor at shoulder height.
• Bend your front knee over your front ankle so that your front thigh is parallel to the floor.
• Take a slight bend in your back knee.
• Stick your butt out a bit like you’re booty dancing. (Are you noticing my thing? I happen to like booty dancing.)
• Press the outer edge of your back foot into the floor strongly.
• Breath into your back ribs as you extend through the crown of your head.
• Gaze past the fingers of your front hand.
• Hold for 5 breaths—deep and easy—in through the nose and out through the nose.
• Step forward to release the pose and switch sides.

Side Angle Stretch

This pose feels so good because it stretches the side body while also opening the hips and strengthening the legs. It’s a great one, especially for kayakers because side stretching targets the muscle responsible for hiking the hip, aka the hip snap muscle (your roll muscle).

• From standing, step your right foot back one leg’s length.
• Turn your back heel down which will turn your back toes out slightly. Keep your front foot facing forward. Your front heel should be in line with the arch of your back foot.
• Keep a slight bend in the back knee and deeply bend the front knee in line with the front ankle.
• Slightly stick your butt out like.—you know—you’re booty dancing.
• Press the back foot strongly into the mat and take your front forearm to your front thigh.
• Take your back arm and extend it right by your ear.

  

• Enjoy the side stretch from your back foot all the way through your top fingertips.
• Turn your chest toward the sky, gently take the shoulder blades toward one another for a gentle chest opener.
• Hold for 5 breaths—deep and easy—in through the nose and out through the nose.
• Switch sides and repeat.

Wide Angle Forward Fold

Most paddler’s hips are too tight to do a regular forward fold without putting a lot of strain on the lower back. Doing a wide angle forward fold with the feet wide apart is much better for kayakers’ and stand up paddlers’ than a regular forward fold because the wide stance makes it easier for the pelvis to stay in alignment as you fold forward. To protect your back and get a good hamstring stretch, do this wide angle forward fold.

• Stand with your legs one leg length apart facing the side of your mat with your toes facing straight ahead.

  

• Place your hands on your hips, take a slight bend in the knees and inhale lengthening through the crown of your head.
• Exhale fold forward at the waist and bring your hands to the floor between your feet or to blocks that you’ve placed on the floor in front of you.

  

• Take a slight bend in the knees and stick your butt out slightly like you’re booty dancing.
• Press the floor away with your feet and shake your head ‘yes’ and ‘no’ releasing tension in the head and neck.
• Hold for 5 breaths—deep and easy—in through the nose and out through the nose.
• Inhale to come all the way up pressing your feet into the floor to release the pose.

Commit to a consistent practice of these poses two-three times per week and you’ll be prepping your body for a fantastic paddling season and helping to reduce the risk of injury.

If you’d like to dive deeper into yoga for paddling you can pick up a copy of her book Yoga for Paddling or check out her downloadable yoga classes. Anna will work with you to design a custom yoga sequence at: https://mindbodypaddle.com/yoga/

With 20+ years of experience as an accomplished whitewater paddler and instructor, NRS Ambassador Anna Levesque is the leading expert on kayak instruction for women and yoga and wellness for paddling, including SUP Yoga.