Imagine floating on the water, the sun prickling your skin while a breeze wafts across your body. Your muscles are fully relaxed and your breathing is slow and measured. The sounds of nature fill your ears as you enter a deep meditative state.
This is how Christine Malmborg describes a shavasana (resting pose) experience after a session of paddleboard yoga on the lake.
“As the clients enter a five- to 10-minute long shavasana, I help to connect them to the elements,” Malmborg says. “Yoga practice while floating on water and connecting to the environment is very powerful for healing mental, physical, and emotional health.”
How it Started
Malmborg, formerly of California, used to work in the tech industry. In 2006, she was laid off and shortly after losing her job, her father died. She decided to move to Colorado to be near her sister and to take advantage of a much lower cost of living. During this period, she discovered yoga and eventually pursued an instructor’s license.
By 2016, Malmborg was managing two yoga studios and began thinking of starting her own yoga business. She went to a yoga retreat in Cabo San Lucas and discovered paddleboard yoga. This sparked an idea as she realized nobody was doing paddleboard yoga in Colorado. Serendipitously, as she was thinking about her potential new business, a dragonfly landed on her paddleboard.
When Malmborg returned to her job in Colorado, she was visited by yet another dragonfly as it entered her yoga studio.
“I took it as a sign,” she says. “Dragonflies are a symbol of transformation and adaptability. I was ready for a change and this helped to confirm my decision.”
After taking a paddleboard yoga instructor course and investing in a van along with eight high-quality paddle boards, Dragonfly Paddle Yoga became official in January 2016. Over the years, her business has grown and success has allowed her to purchase more equipment and offer new experiences. This year, classes will take place at Quail Lake.
Dragonfly Paddle Yoga Experiences
May through September marks the official Dragonfly Paddle Yoga season where clients can enjoy the following experiences:
- Lake Paddleboard Yoga
- Nighttime/Lake Paddleboard Yoga/GLOWGA – yoga on illuminated paddleboards that light up the water
- Paddleboard Yoga with Live Sound Bath and Lunch – live flute music bathes clients during Shavasana, followed by a picnic lunch
- Essential SUP Skills Class
- SUP Yoga Instructor Course
- Women’s Eco Adventure Glamping Retreat
- Fall Witches and Ghouls Paddle – free event where you are invited to dress up and paddle the lake
In the off-season or winter months, clients can enjoy:
- Indoor Paddle Yoga at Pike’s Peak Athletic Training Center
- Winter Yoga Retreat in Mexico
Do People Fall In?
“My response is, ‘It’s always a possibility, never a guarantee,’” Malmborg says.
Of course, there is a potential to fall, but safety is of the upmost importance for Malmborg. Before clients even enter the water, they have to sign a waiver stating that they can swim unassisted. There is always a safety course where clients learn the risks and how to prevent them. Malmborg has become something of an expert at reading the weather and will cancel or stop a class if weather threatens safety.
“If there is one class I wish everyone would take, it’s the Essential SUP Skills Class,” she says. “If you’ve never taken a lesson before there is no better time than now. This lesson will help you be a knowledgeable, skilled and safe paddler, and will raise your enjoyment of the sport. In these skills workshops, you will learn about the equipment, safety measures, self-rescue techniques, paddling and maneuvering techniques, and skills like mounting, body stance, balance, and how to fall/re-mount.”
Website: https://www.dragonflypaddleyoga.com/
Instagram: @Dragonfly.PaddleYoga
Facebook: @DragonflyPaddleYoga
“Yoga practice while floating on water and connecting to the environment is very powerful for healing mental, physical, and emotional health.” -Christine Malmborg
