Week 20: What's SUP with that Yoga

I lay down upon the board which sways along with the gentle waters of the harbor. I am grateful to be able to relax on such a beautiful blissful morning. I close my eyes, and am kissed by the sun...as I lay there enjoying the sunshine on my face, the board starts to move side to side just a bit more. Is a boat motoring by? Ugh, I’m starting to feel a little queasy...am I going to get seasick on the paddleboard? I am so lame.

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I was excited this morning to try a new adventure for my 50 Weeks to 50 journey. I woke up real early and was on the road to Point Loma for Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) Yoga. I regularly attend Yoga classes twice a week, and my kids had tried SUP while on vacation. It looked like fun and I wanted to try it too. I knew OEX had life jackets, so the not knowing how to swim thing didn’t bother me...at first.

Then I get to the water’s edge. Again, what I imagined it to be was not. At this particular location in Point Loma by Shelter Island, they don’t wade out from beachside in shallow water, but rather paddle out dockside amongst the boats. Other locations do start beachside, but the location that Lacy gathered a bunch of friends for this morning excursion does not -- Lacy you are going to kill me girlfriend! Well, they reassured me it wasn’t that deep, and that they would all be closeby to save me if I fall into the water. But when I’m still recovering from thoughts of thinking I was going to drown from my Week 17 Jetpack experience, and I can’t see the bottom, I’m a little apprehensive. Why can’t San Diego have clearer waters?

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I don't know if I can do this. Dana, the instructor from Paddleboard Bliss that operates out of OEX Point Loma, was very patient with me and reminded me that these boards are very steady. Now, didn’t Lacy tell me she falls at least once each time, huh. In my mind, I didn’t want to hold up the group and be a distraction. I was ready to wait for the group back at OEX.

Okay, I can do this. Dana helped me on the board by the dock’s edge. I sat there for a while, holding on to the dock for dear life. Lacy paddled next to me and said she would stay right by my side. Okay, I don’t really think she would let me die. But when you’re scared of drowning and you know everyone else can swim and can save you, and Erik, one of the guys in the group, says he was a lifeguard for five years, even if you know all that -- you’re still afraid of drowning.