Do You Even SUP Bro?

Paddle board yoga takes over Alton Baker Park

Relaxing by the water sounds more tempting than working out on warm, humid summer days. Jessica Donohue, owner of YoSupBro yoga studio, has an alternative: Paddle board yoga. Donohue says the playful name stands for the different domains of yoga that she teaches: yoga (Yo), stand up paddle boarding (SUP) and Broga (Bro) — which is for the “bro in us all.” SUP yoga is special, Donohue says. It is what brought her into the yoga profession in the first place. “About four years ago, I was in Bend, and I saw somebody on a lake doing yoga poses on a paddle board, and I’d never even been on a paddle board,” Donohue says. “I decided that’s what I wanted to teach, although I’d never even done it.” She says that the summer of 2018 is her fourth season teaching the class. Worried about falling off your paddle board while attempting the warrior pose? Interestingly, all of the people I saw practicing SUP yoga were perfectly dry. “Our bodies want to find balance,” Donohue says. But no shame if you trip up, she adds. Donohue’s stand up paddle board yoga takes place during summer at Alton Baker Park. Find out more at yosupbro.com