Born From a Passion. Built With Purpose. Beyond Solid Ground.
In 2014, I stepped onto a paddleboard and fell in love with the experience. There was something different about being on the water. The movement, the balance, the connection to nature. It offered a kind of freedom that I wanted to share with others.
At the time, I had already spent years immersed in yoga. Currently now 15 years of yoga experience and an E-RYT® 500 credential, I understood that wellness could be so much more than a workout or a class. When I discovered the growing world of stand-up paddleboard yoga in California, I saw an opportunity to bring something special to Arizona.
In 2015, I began building that vision as well as receiving my SUP Yoga teacher training certification. In 2016, Desert Lotus Paddle Boards officially launched.
My goal was never simply to put yoga on a paddleboard. I wanted to create a dedicated wellness experience that brought together mindful movement, balance, nature, and the unique challenges and rewards of practicing on the water. I pursued specialized SUP yoga education and teacher training, along with additional preparation in open-water safety and the considerations involved in safely delivering experiences in pools.
Because when you bring wellness onto the water, the setting changes everything. Safety, preparation, equipment, weather, and the environment all matter. The experience may look effortless to a guest, but creating that sense of ease takes considerable work behind the scenes.
More Than a Class. A Different Kind of Experience.
What began with paddleboard yoga continued to evolve.
The lotus has long represented transformation, and that idea became part of the spirit of our business. As we grew, so did our understanding of what wellness could look like.
I began developing Glow Tours, bringing people onto the water after dark with professional waterproof lighting designed for the experience. These weren't simply decorated paddleboards. They were thoughtfully equipped evening experiences that offered a different way to connect with the water, slow down, and step away from the demands of everyday life.
The vision was expanding. Wellness didn't have to look the same for everyone, and it didn't have to happen only on a yoga mat.
When Movement Met Purpose.
In 2019, I met my partner, Trevor, whose background spans more than 25 years in the fitness industry. We shared a belief that movement could be both physically rewarding and restorative, and together we began developing BoardFit.
Trevor pursued PaddleFit Core Professional training, bringing his fitness expertise together with my experience in aquatic wellness and safety. The result was a program that combined functional fitness with the distinctive challenge of exercising on the water.
In 2020, we expanded BoardFit into pools, making the experience possible in another setting and opening new opportunities for our clients.
But that period also taught us something deeper about why these experiences mattered.
Wellness Is Not a Luxury When You Need Room to Breathe.
During the pandemic, we saw essential workers, including nurses, firefighters, and police officers, turn to our experiences. Many carried enormous amounts of stress and responsibility. They needed a place to step away from the constant demands, reconnect with themselves, and simply breathe.
We saw how meaningful it could be to create an environment where people could slow down and feel supported.
That experience reinforced something we still believe today: wellness is not just about what the body can accomplish. It's also about creating opportunities for rest, recovery, and a sense of calm.
Our offerings continued to grow beyond movement on the water. We developed restorative experiences, including Guided Nidra Sound Baths, bringing together guided Yoga Nidra, sound, and an environment intentionally designed to encourage deep rest. We also explored experiences incorporating horses, extending our work into new settings and forms of connection.
Every evolution has come from the same question: How can we create an experience that genuinely serves the people who come to us?
Thoughtfully Created. Intentionally Small.
We have never set out to become the biggest event provider in the room.
We believe there is something valuable about an intimate setting. Smaller groups allow us to be attentive, maintain a more personal atmosphere, and create space for people to feel comfortable rather than lost in a crowd.
We don't approach our experiences as gatherings to fill a venue. We consider the environment, the physical demands, the equipment, the safety requirements, and the kind of experience we want each person to have. We draw on our combined backgrounds and continued learning to shape experiences with care and purpose.
There is a great deal of physical work involved in what we do. Boards and equipment must be prepared, transported, arranged, checked, and managed in Arizona's heat and changing conditions. Lake environments and pool environments each bring their own considerations. That work happens before guests arrive and continues after they leave.
We take that responsibility seriously because our clients deserve more than something that looks beautiful in a photograph. They deserve an experience that has been thoughtfully prepared for them.
A Community That Keeps Coming Back.
One of the most meaningful parts of this journey has been the people who return year after year.
Our clients are more than transactions on a calendar. They are people who trust us with their time, their celebrations, their well-being, and sometimes a much-needed opportunity to exhale. We value the relationships that grow through those shared experiences, and we take pride in caring for the people who choose to spend that time with us.
We continue to learn, refine, and explore new ways to make wellness accessible through movement, sound, nature, and restorative experiences. Our work has changed over the years, but our intention has remained the same: to create something meaningful, personal, and carefully considered.
The name has evolved from Desert Lotus Paddle Boards to Desert Lotus Wellness AZ, reflecting a vision that has grown far beyond a single activity.
The heart of the business, however, has never changed.
We believe wellness can happen beyond familiar routines and solid ground. It can happen on a lake at sunrise, beneath glowing lights after sunset, beside the quiet presence of horses, or in a restorative sound experience that gives you permission to stop doing and simply be.
We don't just create events. We create space for people to reconnect with themselves, with nature, and with one another.
That is the heart of Desert Lotus Wellness AZ.
Beyond Solid Ground.