What do you call two Toronto women who standup paddle board on Lake Ontario in winter?

Entrepreneurs.

Fitness studio owner Gudrun Hardes, 48, and marathoner Diana Turnbull, 47, met on the lake and decided to start a stand up paddleboard (SUP) business.

It just made sense: Were out there in our wetsuits in December and January the only two idiots on the water and we figured were enjoying this so much, lets do it the rest of our lives, Hardes recalls.

By May they had opened WSUP, and Hardes, who has been doing yoga for 15 years, was experimenting with doing asanas (yoga postures) on a paddle board as well. They soon launched yoga-on-the-water classes at The Beach.

People just love it, says Hardes. Its really picking up everywhere.

WSUP has had students aged 8 to 72 since it began offering paddle board yoga at two locations (Woodbine and Balmy Beach) this summer.

People wanted a little more, as soon as they started getting their legs, Hardes says. With paddle boarding, you get really tight in the legs, so its a nice stretch after being out on the board.

It really helps with your balance; it makes you focus more, and helps improve your posture.

Yoga paddle boarding involves vinyasa postures, from the sun salutation to lunges. I do it just for the feel-good aspect, Hardes says. Being on the water is so calming; people just gravitate to water naturally.

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