SURFSET Challenge poses January 2017

Happy 2017! Last year was a great one for us, and we’re thankful for all the support and love we’ve been given by all of you! Now, on to better things this year – and by better things, we mean challenges!

We think January is a great way to kick off the year, with the first official working day on the 3rd; the fewer working days (18 by some counts); and of course, Chinese new year! In between all these revelry, we do hope you give us some time and attention to get on board with us!

This month, we’ve got our cover girl, Hot Momma, demonstrating the challenge poses. She’s also the one drawing up these cute stick figures! (What can we say? She’s multi-talented.)

Warrior III

Back by popular demand. Try this one with with your palms together for a variation!

How to do a Warrior III pose

1. Face the nose of the board and place standing foot (right foot) along the mid line of the board. Square your hips and extend left leg towards the tail of the board. Have palms in prayer position in heart center.
2. Hinge from the hips and extend arms forward with hands still in prayer position. Lift left leg up as you lower your torso towards the floor.
3. Bring your body parallel o the board and form a letter T.
4. Internally rotate your shoulders and keep drawing elbows towards center line. Maintain the gap between shoulder and ears.

Bonus: Do this with your friendly board mate!

You can also check out our September Challenge where we did a joint challenge on one SURFSET board.

Reverse Warrior

Perfect for when you have just done side planks in class. This pose gives a really nice stretch to the sides of the torso and waist, which always benefits from stretching (no, not to make space for snacks).

How to do a Reverse Warrior pose

1. Start off in plank position and bring your right foot forward into lunge. Flatten the left foot and bring arms up into Warrior II pose. Right knee is bent and on top of right ankle.
2. Turn right palm to face up and rest left hand on the left outer thigh.
3. Inhale and raise right arm up towards the ceiling. Look straight ahead or up at the ceiling.

Eagle pose (Garudasana)

This pose gets you all tangled. Even drawing the stick figures got Shuyi’s fingers all tangled up.

Don’t be intimidated by Mr. Stick Figure and take your time getting into the pose! Try it facing the nose and/or the side railings of the SURFSET board.

How to do a Eagle pose

1. Stand in Tadasana with the right foot along the center line/mid line of the board. Bend your knees and lift your left foot up. Cross your left thigh over the right. Point your left toes towards the board and hook the top of the foot behind the lower right calf.
2. Stretch your arms straight forward and cross the arms (at the elbows) so that the right arm is above the left. Bend your elbows and have the back of your hands facing each other.
3. Move your right hand away from you and around your left hand. Bring the palms to meet, press the palms together and lift your elbows up while reaching with the fingers toward the ceiling.

We think we deserve credit for not writing anything cheesy about new year’s resolutions! If you’d like to reward us, come swing by!