Hundreds will take part in nine free, outdoor yoga sessions at Willows Beach Park starting July 1 to calm their bodies and minds by the sea.
Aptly named Yoga in the Park, the family-friendly sessions have taken place weekly every July and August since 2012.
Organized by the District of Oak Bay and Ajna Yoga, a 13-year-old Monterey Avenue practice, the sessions sprouted to offer new parents an opportunity to stretch together, without needing to find babysitters.
"The moms would trade off; one of us would take care of the kids on the playground, and then the rest of us would practice yoga, and then we'd switch off," said Jules Payne, who co-owns Ajna with her business partner Michelle Schroeder. "We thought that it would be a great opportunity to give back to the community.”
Hundreds attended those early sessions, giving rise to one of Oak Bay's most popular event series. Since then, some 300 people flood the park summer nights between 6 and 7 p.m. to stretch, soak up sun and blow off steam.
“What we're noticing is there are so many more people feeling distress from outside sources – from politics, from the news, from worries about people's safety,” said Payne. “Cultivating movement with breath and cultivating an awareness of what's happening inside has been shown to decrease anxiety, depression, and pain in the body. It's pretty incredible what it can do.”
Ajna instructors will lead July 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29 sessions at Willows Beach Park, while Oak Bay Recreation instructors will head classes on Aug. 5, 12, 19 and 26.
Although the yoga meet-ups are open to Greater Victoria’s most seasoned yogis, they’re designed to help introduce locals, especially those weary of the practice, to yoga’s many benefits.
“Some have this idea of yoga being these skinny, young people in Lululemon clothes and that it's really inaccessible,” said Payne. “Everybody can practice – even somebody close to a hip replacement or a knee replacement.”
Unlike private yoga classes, the Ajna co-owner explained, Yoga in the Park offers a less formal environment than its indoor counterparts – one where silences are broken up with laughter, birds chirping and waves lapping sandy shores.
“It's like a beautiful chaos that happens,” said Payne.
This year, Ajna and Oak Bay are inviting attendees to donate to The Mustard Seed Food Bank – a Victoria-based non-profit that provides food, shelter and care to locals in need.
Visit mustardseed.ca/donation to donate.
