Running group takes yoga out from under ceilings

People hear "down dog" a lot on area trails, but it's usually the canine command rather than the yoga pose. Then again, the Running Yogis aren't your typical trail runners.

The group of parents and children gathered on Wednesday morning beneath a banner of yoga flags at Red Rock Canyon Open Space. They talked about awareness of their own breathing and respect for the nature around them, and then they set off down the trail.

A few minutes in, a cry came from around the next bend: "We found baby caterpillars!"

The Running Yogis dashed for the spot and quietly gathered around the bush holding the tent of caterpillars. They stared in awe for a long moment before they started down the trail again.

This running club is definitely about the journey rather than the pace.

Local yoga instructor Annika Wilson dreamed up the Running Yogis as a way to combine her daughters' - ages 10 and 7 - love of running, yoga and nature.

"I came up with it because it was an opportunity to get out this summer with my kids and do something they love to do," she said.

Wilson plans to run the free excursions at Red Rock Canyon Open Space every Wednesday morning through July. She hopes to make it fun and challenging for parents and kids.

"Running and yoga are such opposite activities, the two together form a great marriage," Wilson said. "You can lengthen and strengthen muscles that get tight in runners."

Midway through the run, the crew of mothers, children and a boisterous Labradoodle stopped at a rock outcropping and took off their shoes and socks for yoga poses. Star, moon goddess, warrior, mountain.

They fell silent to listen, and the kids tuned in to the chattering symphony of birds and bugs around them. They twisted up into the eagle pose and took a few minutes to gaze at the iron-tinged rocks and mist-covered mountains.

"I love doing yoga in nature," Wilson said.

And then it was time to put on shoes and hit the trail again, this time headed down hill.

"I haven't been running in over a year," mother Sue Char said.

And then she and Wilson said in unison, "It feels good."

Meanwhile, the kids were out of sight, bounding down the trail so fast they said it felt like flying, as if they might catch enlightenment by the tail.

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Call the writer at 636-0226.

Running Yogis

Where: Red Rock Canyon Open Space, at Highway 24 and Ridge Road. Meet at the west end of the parking lot (by the yoga flags)

When: 9 a.m. Wednesdays, now through end of July

Cost: free

Bring: water