Yoga has popped up in some surprising places. At times when the sun is shining in a park, or on a mountain trail, and more typically in a studio room with room for mats and towels.

Not to be included in the typical, Kirkland’s newest yoga class can be found on the water – on a paddle board.

While paddle boarding is quickly becoming a well known outdoor water activity, Andrea Cirignano, the owner and instructor of YogaTone, figured combining the two was a great way to get yoga outside. She teaches the YogaTone H2O class several times a week.

“I’ve just been doing it this year,” she said of her class on water. “It’s pretty new everywhere. There are only a handful of places around the country.”

The class, which takes place at Marina Park in Kirkland, holds six to eight people and includes the use of a paddle board. Cirignano said students don’t need to bring anything to class as the boards are provided.

With the cooler than usual summer weather, the yoga instructor said it’s been pretty quiet, but people are interested.

Cirignano had been looking for a way to teach classes outside and was introduced to Jeff Underwood, who rents paddle boards at the park. They clicked and her class was born.

The biggest difference between a typical yoga class and this one, Cirignano said, is how much focus it requires.

“Its way harder to balance on (the board) and that’s the point,” she said. “It adds a new element. I love how when you are out there you really have to be in the moment, because if you are thinking about your day or to-do list, you are going to get wet.”

While paddle boarding alone requires a lot of muscle use, Cirignano said even more are used and needed for doing yoga on the boards.

Her classes, which are $40, start with a warm-up paddle around the cove at Marina Park, followed by the class, which lines up boards tethered to buoys. That way, she explained, when the swells from boats come in, they don’t have to worry about floating away.

During last Wednesday’s class, Cirignano was joined by Bryn Howell and Erin Underwood, Jeff’s wife. Howell said she’d done the class once or twice before with Cirignano.

“If this was a regular yoga class it would probably seem like a beginner class,” said the instructor. “But because it’s on the water it adds that new element.”

With yoga classes Cirignano said as the instructor, she can control most of the elements – the type of music she plays and what is going on in the room – with with the outdoor class, especially on the water, it’s helped her and her students learn that they have no control over their surroundings.

“Sometimes there are ducks floating by, or boats and people and you just have to go with it,” she said. “Then you can take that with you into your everyday life.”

Cirignano has been teaching yoga for almost two years, mostly in Kirkland, she said, because she lives here, but bounces around to various places. Outside of the class at the park she said she is also interested in teacher pre and post-natal classes with moms.

“It’s something I’ve been very interested in,” she said.

Visit www.yogatone.net to learn more about Cirignano’s classes, including YogaTone H2O.

Jeff Underwood, who runs Northwest Paddle Surfers, rents boards at the park throughout the summer. To learn more visit www.northwestpaddlesurfers.com.