It’s been a couple years since I’ve taken my yoga off the mat and onto the water. Back then, I was fairly new to yoga. Standing up to move into Warrior I pose was huge.
Two years later, after developing a more regular yoga practice, a comparison of myself in this same pose shows little difference. Mostly, I see a difference in practice rather than more perfected alignment. My putting my hands together and forward of body is due to my current practice in ashtanga. It’s not better; it’s just different.
What you don’t see pictured, is the fact that we actually flowed through a sequence of poses, including Sun Salutations, with a nice build up of poses peaking at multiple points including tree, Warrior I and II, triangle, wheel, shoulder stand, plow, fish, etc. After savansana, we got a bit more time for free play.
Not so surprising, the poses which trouble me on land (namely tree pose), are exponentially more challenging afloat a stand up paddleboard. The difference is that you cannot fake it on the water. There are no walls to hold onto and even your dristi moves as you do.
Finding balance in all that you do, can be a really tricky thing. Often, it seems there is too much on our plates to handle at once. We try to juggle things around, prioritize, but it never quite seems possible to get it all done.