LIVE WELL: Yoga and the City
It came to me in savasana. OK, not really, but it did come to me in the middle of a restless night that you might appreciate some specific times, dates and locations for your flourishing yoga practice.
Local studios and groups are great at coming up with events designed to shine a spotlight on yoga and make it more available to the masses. Here are a handful of eye-catching classes, workshops and whatnot around town. Please let me know of any others, and I’ll compile them for a monthly list.
• Pranava Yoga Center is holding Charity Yoga in the Park to benefit TESSA. It’s 3-4:30 p.m. Sunday at the Myron Stratton Home Campus, 2525 Highway 15 (S. Nevada Ave.), free, all donations go to TESSA; tessacs.org, pranavayogacenter.com, 444-8463 or 633-1462.
• CorePower Yoga is offering free yoga in Monument Valley Park (behind the Fine Arts Center) from 10-11 a.m. Saturdays through Sept. 25, weather permitting. Class is all levels, vinyasa-style, which means a more flowing practice that’s sure to get your heart rate up a bit. You can make it as easy or as challenging as you need; corepoweryoga.com or 477-9642.(FULL DISCLOSURE: I teach there.)
• Don’t forget about Manitou Yoga. They also offer free classes, both inside and outside. After August, this group moves indoors. Classes are 7 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, Manitou City Hall (third Tuesdays are at The Cliffhouse at Pikes Peak, 306 Cañon Ave.); 8 a.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, Venue 515, Business of Art Center, 515 Manitou Ave.; 4:30 p.m. Fridays and 9 a.m. Saturdays at Mansion Park, behind City Hall, 606 Manitou Ave.; manitouyoga@gmail.com or 641-8325.
• Manitou Yoga is also sponsoring Yoga for Peace Day is Sept. 19 in Memorial Park in Manitou Springs. Local yoga teachers will lead you through 108 sun salutations from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. to promote peace, health and well-being. Don’t worry, you don’t have to do them all. Just do a few and then sit back on the grass and watch the graceful yogis flow through Surya Namaskar; 641-8325 or manitouyoga@gmail.com.
• The Bija Studio is also offering yoga outside through the summer. Owner Julie Berg teaches an all-levels class at 5:30 p.m. Fridays in Red Rocks Canyon, $10 donation. Meet in the east parking lot off Highway 24 (Cimarron) just after 31st St., and bring a drink or snack to share afterward; 640-6134 or thebijastudio.com.
• Kundalini yoga. After the workshop I took earlier this year at Pranava Yoga Center with a Kundalini teacher from Denver I was hooked! Class consists of sequences called kriyas. These are rapid, repetitive movements done in conjunction with a particular breath or holding a pose while breathing in a particular way. I found it to be super challenging and shifted my energy and my awareness of that energy in amazing ways. I searched for a local teacher and came up with nothing, until recently. I spied a flyer announcing Kundalini class with Kathe Forrest. It’s donation-based and at 8:30 a.m. Sundays at Westside Yoga, 617 N. 17th St.; 344-9591.
Other yogic opportunities can be found at:
• cambio. Studios — The studio offers donation yoga classes all through the week. Juicy classes accompanied by live music and events like yoga and open mike poetry often pop up on the schedule, 3326 Austin Bluffs Parkway; 291-1798 or cambioyoga.com.
• The Inner Space at Poor Richards — The downtown studio offers handfuls of interesting weekly yoga classes, events and workshops, 322 N. Tejon St.; downtowninnerspace.com.
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Jennifer Mulson teaches vinyasa yoga at Corepower Yoga and Gold’s Gym in
Colorado Springs. Read more Live Well columns and watch yoga videos at gazette.com.
