The art of extreme yoga: Mother who performs stretches on stand-up paddle board (with a little help from her children)

  • Stand-up paddle board yoga is a new craze becoming big in Australia
  • Sharee Sanderson is the first certified stand-up yoga paddle board instructor in Australia   
  • She brings her kids out on her board every weekend to practice yoga 
  • Being out on the water practising yoga poses is pure 'bliss' for the mum
  • Her classes between now and Christmas have almost fully booked out 

Maintaining a yoga pose on dry land is considered a tricky process by many people.

But one mother has taken the sport to a new extreme by practising her yoga poses out on the open water on a stand-up paddle board, with her three kids in tow.

The new craze, which is already huge in America, is slowly but surely catching on in Australia and Sharee Sanderson and her kids are at the forefront of the trend.

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One mother has taken the sport to a new extreme by practising her yoga poses out on the open water on a stand-up paddle board, with her three kids in tow

One mother has taken the sport to a new extreme by practising her yoga poses out on the open water on a stand-up paddle board, with her three kids in tow

The new craze, which is already huge in America, is slowly but surely catching on in Australia and Ms Sanderson and her kids are at the forefront of the trend

The new craze, which is already huge in America, is slowly but surely catching on in Australia and Ms Sanderson and her kids are at the forefront of the trend

34-year-old Sanderson became the first person in Australia to be certified as an accredited stand-up paddle board yoga instructor last year and her active children are set to follow in her footsteps.

Since then, there has been no stopping the mum, who runs packed classes of stand-up paddle yoga in Currumbin and brings her enthusiastic children along for the ride. 

'They see me doing it so they don’t really have a choice, I've kind of brain washed them', Ms Sanderson jokingly told Daily Mail Australia. 

34-year-old Sharee Sanderson became the first person in Australia to be certified as an accredited stand-up paddle board yoga instructor last year

34-year-old Sharee Sanderson became the first person in Australia to be certified as an accredited stand-up paddle board yoga instructor last year

Her active children are set to follow in her footsteps

Her active children are set to follow in her footsteps

There has been no stopping the mum, who runs packed classes of stand-up paddle yoga in Currumbin

There has been no stopping the mum, who runs packed classes of stand-up paddle yoga in Currumbin

Sharee brings her enthusiastic children along for the ride

Sharee brings her enthusiastic children along for the ride

The Ballarat born woman has three kids, 6-year-old Milly, 4-year-old Jimmy and her youngest son Harry who is 2-years-old. 

Harry and Milly have taken to the sport like pros, following their energetic mum out onto the water on paddle boards during her animated classes.

'Milly is a little bit better she could probably do a whole class of stand-up yoga, she said. 

The Ballarat born woman has three kids, 6-year-old Milly, 4-year-old Jimmy and her youngest son Harry who is 2-years-old

The Ballarat born woman has three kids, 6-year-old Milly, 4-year-old Jimmy and her youngest son Harry who is 2-years-old

Harry and Milly have taken to the sport like pros, following their energetic mum out onto the water on paddle boards during her animated classes

Harry and Milly have taken to the sport like pros, following their energetic mum out onto the water on paddle boards during her animated classes

'But Harry is limited to maybe three or four poses, but we’ll get there.'

'I take them out on the board with me every weekend'

Ms Sanderson says her time spent out on the water practising her yoga poses is pure 'bliss' and she is extremely proud of the fact that she is the first certified instructor in Australia. 

'It’s exciting I researched it a lot,' she said. 

Ms Sanderson said it’s always nice to be the first person at anything and especially at such a challenging sport

Ms Sanderson says her time spent out on the water practising her yoga poses is pure 'bliss' and she is extremely proud of the fact that she is the first certified instructor in Australia

Ms Sanderson said it’s always nice to be the first person at anything and especially at such a challenging sport

Ms Sanderson said it’s always nice to be the first person at anything and especially at such a challenging sport

She admits that practising yoga is more difficult out on the water but is also a lot of fun

She admits that practising yoga is more difficult out on the water but is also a lot of fun

'I could have gone to the States to do my certification but they actually had someone here, so I did it here, which was great.'

Ms Sanderson said it’s always nice to be the first person at anything and especially at such a challenging sport. 

She admits that practising yoga is more difficult out on the water but is also a lot of fun. 

The mum-of-three sporadically involved herself in the yoga world over the years, but she made it all official last year with her accreditation

The mum-of-three sporadically involved herself in the yoga world over the years, but she made it all official last year with her accreditation

Sharee brings her three kids out with her on her paddle board every weekend to practice yoga poses 

Sharee brings her three kids out with her on her paddle board every weekend to practice yoga poses 

Her children love the serene time they spend on the water with their mother 

Her children love the serene time they spend on the water with their mother 

The mum-of-three sporadically involved herself in the yoga world over the years, but she made it all official last year with her accreditation.   

'I actually used to be a professional water skier and stunt woman, so being on the water is just bliss for me and then combining paddle boarding and yoga is just so much fun.' she said. 

'I grew up on lakes and rivers and water skiing as a kid and now that I'm up here (Gold Coast) with the beautiful salt-water, I've been converted.'

Sharee admits that the poses can be hard on water but says it is 'bliss' 

Sharee admits that the poses can be hard on water but says it is 'bliss' 

Sharee has fun during her classes and likes to get people involved in the class 

Sharee has fun during her classes and likes to get people involved in the class 

Her youngest son, Harry, loves to go out on the water with his mother and can do about four poses

Her youngest son, Harry, loves to go out on the water with his mother and can do about four poses

Ms Sanderson admits that the standing poses are extremely difficult on the paddle boards but proves that it can be done with some persistence.

'The standing postures are really quite challenging,' she said.

'I love inversions and I find them not too bad, it’s just easier than a standing posture that’s for sure.' 

All the low impact poses, which are closer to the ground, are easier to practice on the paddle boards

All the low impact poses, which are closer to the ground, are easier to practice on the paddle boards

Ms Sanderson has recently opened up her own yoga and pilates studio in Helensvale called The Floating Lotus

Ms Sanderson has recently opened up her own yoga and pilates studio in Helensvale called The Floating Lotus

At the moment, Ms Sanderson is running the whole show, teaching all the classes by herself

She has also teamed up with JM Stand Up Paddle, who are one of the market leaders in Australian stand-up paddle boards

All the low impact poses, which are closer to the ground, are easier to practice on the paddle boards.

Ms Sanderson has recently opened up her own yoga and pilates studio in Helensvale called The Floating Lotus. 

She has also teamed up with JM Stand Up Paddle, who are one of the market leaders in Australian stand-up paddle boards. 

At the moment, Ms Sanderson is running the whole show, teaching all the classes by herself

At the moment, Ms Sanderson is running the whole show, teaching all the classes by herself

However she hopes to get more yoga teachers on-board as her business expands

However she hopes to get more yoga teachers on-board as her business expands

Sharee realised her passion for yoga and has now made a career out of it

Sharee realised her passion for yoga and has now made a career out of it

'That’s probably one of the best things I've ever done because we’re really going to push that paddle boarding yoga right up the coast this summer,' she said.

At the moment, Ms Sanderson is running the whole show, teaching all the classes by herself. 

However she hopes to get more yoga teachers on-board as her business expands.   

Due to her collaboration with JM SUP, Ms Sanderson has been able to purchase a new batch of paddle boards for the Summer season

Due to her collaboration with JM SUP, Ms Sanderson has been able to purchase a new batch of paddle boards for the Summer season

Sheree says her daughter Milly could teach her own class of stand-up paddle yoga as she knows all the poses 

Sheree says her daughter Milly could teach her own class of stand-up paddle yoga as she knows all the poses 

 She can now take her classes all the way from Currumbin up to Surfers Point

 She can now take her classes all the way from Currumbin up to Surfers Point

The yoga classes usually consist of about eight to ten participants

The yoga classes usually consist of about eight to ten participants

Due to her collaboration with JM SUP, Ms Sanderson has been able to purchase a new batch of paddle boards for the Summer season, which means she can now take her classes all the way from Currumbin up to Surfers Point.

The yoga classes usually consist of about eight to ten participants.

Paddlers take their board out to calm water, anchor up and indulge in 40 to 50 minutes of yoga. 

Paddlers take their board out to calm water, anchor up and indulge in 40 to 50 minutes of yoga

Paddlers take their board out to calm water, anchor up and indulge in 40 to 50 minutes of yoga

Ms Sanderson has scheduled four classes of stand-up paddle yoga between now and Christmas and each class has already nearly booked out

Ms Sanderson has scheduled four classes of stand-up paddle yoga between now and Christmas and each class has already nearly booked out

Last Summer, Ms Sanderson's classes were completely full and due to a special event with Lululemon, more people than ever are interested in the new way of practising yoga

Last Summer, Ms Sanderson's classes were completely full and due to a special event with Lululemon, more people than ever are interested in the new way of practising yoga

'It’s a lot of fun, I'm very fun loving so I make sure that all the classes that I teach on the water are fun and we fall in a lot and then relax heaps at the end,' she said.

Ms Sanderson has scheduled four classes of stand-up paddle yoga between now and Christmas and each class has already nearly booked out. 

Last Summer, Ms Sanderson's classes were completely full and due to a special event with Lululemon, more people than ever are interested in the new way of practising yoga. 

Sharee and her daughter Milly are professionals at stand-up paddle yoga and spend most of their time out on the water 

Sharee and her daughter Milly are professionals at stand-up paddle yoga and spend most of their time out on the water 

Sharee has equipped her children with all the poses they need to teach their very own stand-up paddle board class one day. 

Sharee has equipped her children with all the poses they need to teach their very own stand-up paddle board class one day.