Posts tagged jessica bellofatto

Summer Bucket List: Stand-up Paddling (SUP) Yoga

Well and Good NYC posted a great article this week - Class Action: SUP Dog Yoga featuring Jessica Bellofatto and Gina Bradley.

Last November, I joined these phenomenal surf and yoga athletes on a retreat to Rincon, Puerto Rico, and practiced surfing, stand up paddling, and yoga techniques under their expert guidance.

Stand-up paddling is a tremendous ab and core workout! And combining that paddling with some yoga sequences, you will be not only working your core, but your balance and grace as well. Each time you gain the confidence to explore a challenging yoga asana on your board, and when you get to the full expression of the pose (for example, using your strength and balance to come up into a backbend such as wheel, or inversion such as headstand while the unsteady board rocks in the water below you) you will be overwhelmed with a phenomenal proud ah-hah moment. 

“Paddling in the ocean, you are at the mercy of that. On the one hand, you need to be brave… On the other, there is an extreme sense of humility… and huge surrender. The yoga practice requires that same balance of strength and softness, but when you’re out in the elements, maintaining that balance is all the more urgent.” - Jessica Bellofatto

Last week, I went home to the Catskill Mountains in Upstate NY where I grew up. We live on a lake and it is the perfect weekend getaway, especially with my kayak and paddleboard waiting anxiously for me to come play on. I was a little rusty from not practicing my SUP yoga since November, but when I came up into my favorite heart-opening backbend, Urdhva Dhanurasana (Wheel Pose), the rush of energy I got from seeing the lake upside down, that shift of perspective - that was just the coolest feeling. 


If you’d like to try SUP yoga before the summer comes to an end (Ah, Labor Day weekend is approaching in just a few weeks…unbelievable how quickly the summer just flew by!) you can join Jess and Gina out in East Hampton, NY for some exhilarating surf and yoga. They are truly inspiring athletes with fearless attitudes and awesome energy. I’m just dying to join them on another retreat… 

Yesterday evening I reunited with the beautiful yogi Jess Bellofatto, who led the surf & yoga retreat I embarked on last November in Rincon. She’s a dynamite chick. Jess teamed up with Elena Brower, owner of ViraYoga in Soho to co-lead a heart and hip-opening Vinyasa power flow class. Heart-opening poses help clear the lungs, open the chest, and improve circulation— all wonderful things! Being a runner, hip-opening poses are so rewarding. That “ahhh” moment in rockstar/wild thing is one of the feelings I look forward to most on the mat. Muscles getting the relief they need, Feeling all my fears and stresses evaporate out me. The workshop today was themed Gratitude. Jess suggested the mantra- Inhale. “Thank you.” Exhale. “Thank you.” Silently thinking of all I am thankful for while inhaling and exhaling deeply throughout each and every pose in class- this grounds me. This keeps me hopeful. Confident. Richly happy. And I carry this with me off my mat tonight and always - whether the circumstances seem fortunate or misfortunate, having a strong sense of gratitude for the present moment and appreciation that I am able to feel whatever the present moment is, that is a true gift.  Photo above: Jess practicing SUP Yoga in Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward dog) “Jessica Bellofatto, Founder and Director of KamaDeva Yoga in East Hampton, New York, is best known for her easy laughter, radiant energy, and matchless knowledge of the body. A mother, yogini, doula, surfer, triathlete, and avid stand up paddleboarder, Jessica has inspired thousands of students in their journey to better understand themselves and their world. She uses movement as play, movement as therapy, and most importantly, views movement in general and the asana practice specifically as a spiritual practice done to benefit all beings. Featured in The New York Times, Time Out New York, The New York Post, New York Magazine, Hamptons Magazine, Well and Good and many more, Jessica, deeply steeped in her Jivamukti roots, co-founded Yoga Shanti in Sag Harbor, NY in 1999, co-directed Yoga Shanti’s first 500 hr Teacher Training Program, and co-directed the studio for nine years before moving in a different direction. She opened KamaDeva Yoga in April of 2009, and leads sold-out yoga retreats worldwide. In 2011, Jessica was chosen amongst over 400 other applicants to be one of Athleta’s Featured Athletes for 2011, and writes regularly for the ATHLETA CHI blog, and other periodicals.” Bio from http://www.jessicabellofattoyoga.com/biography.htm

Yesterday evening I reunited with the beautiful yogi Jess Bellofatto, who led the surf & yoga retreat I embarked on last November in Rincon. She’s a dynamite chick. Jess teamed up with Elena Brower, owner of ViraYoga in Soho to co-lead a heart and hip-opening Vinyasa power flow class. Heart-opening poses help clear the lungs, open the chest, and improve circulation— all wonderful things! Being a runner, hip-opening poses are so rewarding. That “ahhh” moment in rockstar/wild thing is one of the feelings I look forward to most on the mat. Muscles getting the relief they need, Feeling all my fears and stresses evaporate out me. The workshop today was themed Gratitude. Jess suggested the mantra- Inhale. “Thank you.” Exhale. “Thank you.” Silently thinking of all I am thankful for while inhaling and exhaling deeply throughout each and every pose in class- this grounds me. This keeps me hopeful. Confident. Richly happy. And I carry this with me off my mat tonight and always - whether the circumstances seem fortunate or misfortunate, having a strong sense of gratitude for the present moment and appreciation that I am able to feel whatever the present moment is, that is a true gift. 

Photo above: Jess practicing SUP Yoga in Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward dog)

“Jessica Bellofatto, Founder and Director of KamaDeva Yoga in East Hampton, New York, is best known for her easy laughter, radiant energy, and matchless knowledge of the body. A mother, yogini, doula, surfer, triathlete, and avid stand up paddleboarder, Jessica has inspired thousands of students in their journey to better understand themselves and their world. She uses movement as play, movement as therapy, and most importantly, views movement in general and the asana practice specifically as a spiritual practice done to benefit all beings.

Featured in The New York Times, Time Out New York, The New York Post, New York Magazine, Hamptons Magazine, Well and Good and many more, Jessica, deeply steeped in her Jivamukti roots, co-founded Yoga Shanti in Sag Harbor, NY in 1999, co-directed Yoga Shanti’s first 500 hr Teacher Training Program, and co-directed the studio for nine years before moving in a different direction. She opened KamaDeva Yoga in April of 2009, and leads sold-out yoga retreats worldwide. In 2011, Jessica was chosen amongst over 400 other applicants to be one of Athleta’s Featured Athletes for 2011, and writes regularly for the ATHLETA CHI blog, and other periodicals.”

Bio from http://www.jessicabellofattoyoga.com/biography.htm