Standing near a stack of paddleboards, with the dark green waters of the James River flowing nearby, Laura Hansen felt excited but unsure about the upcoming adventure.

“I have paddleboarded before, and I have done yoga before, but never together at the same time,” said Hansen, a 2020 graduate of Richmond’s School of Professional and Continuing Studies.

2010 graduate Alex Brown had tried the sport previously and remembered feeling caught off guard. “When I stood up, I thought, oh this is challenging,” she said. “You find yourself unstable.” 

Hansen and Brown were among the dozen who participated in the Richmond alumni group’s “SummUR on the Waterfront” paddleboard yoga. The event took place at WaterfrontRVA at Tredegar Boat Ramp, which rents paddleboards and kayaks daily in downtown Richmond.

After zipping into orange life vests, they launched one by one kneeling on their boards and paddling to an open space between two islands.

“Richmond is just such a good city for outdoor activities,” said Nick Minnix, associate director for digital strategy and engagement for Alumni Engagement, before paddling out to join the others. “We have so many things to offer, so I thought that this might be something that our alums would enjoy as well.”

River warriors

Once the group reached its destination, everyone settled into rows. Surrounding them were lush, forested banks, with sights such the swoop of a hawk or a heron gliding by. According to WaterfrontRVA owner Ben Moore, who watched from the bank, schools of baby eels recently passed this area. They “grow up in rivers and freshwater, and they all migrate to the Sargasso Sea and breed there, and the babies swim back to the freshwater where their parents came from,” he said.

Yogi Preston Slaughter started the group slowly, leading these Spiders through moves on their backs and gradually working them up to a position on their hands and knees called tabletop. Growing in stability, the participants stood up on their boards for lunges and the Warrior 1 and Warrior 2 series.

Toward the end of class, everyone lay still on their backs for a savasana, listening to the water lapping nearby and crashing downstream in the whitewater. Kayakers paddled toward the rapids, the setting sun behind them. On a nearby island, kids swung from a rope swing and splashed into the water. From Oregon Hill, the sound of a live band playing in someone’s backyard suddenly radiated across the river.

“The students are coming back,” Moore said, with a smile. “It’s very serene out here, but it’s the city.”

The alumni were soon lifting their boards out of the water and laying them on the ground, smiling and laughing as they did it, and they were all basically dry. All had managed to stay on their boards for the entire class.

“It was awesome, so relaxing,” Hansen said. “It was definitely challenging, but really fun.”

For Brown, part of the enjoyment came from spending time with fellow Spiders. “It was really nice doing something together with people who had all gone to UR,” she said. “With the sun setting and the music starting to play, it was a great way to end the day.”