Stretch Your Body and Relax Your Mind with Yoga in the Garden

Exercise can sometimes feel like a chore. You know it’s good for you, and you’re always glad you’ve done it, but it can seem like yet another obligation.

What if exercising wasn’t a burden but rather a treat?

That’s what yoga in the Garden offers, says yoga instructor Edwina Taylor. “The Garden is so peaceful and invigorating. You feel the breeze and the warmth of the sun. And it’s so relaxing to be outside moving and breathing.”

Taylor teaches two of the four yoga classes offered at the Garden this spring, Gentle Yoga and Chair Yoga.

Gentle Yoga is intended to help you move, stretch and awaken your mind and body. Individuals will practice slow, connected movement on a mat under Taylor’s guidance.

Chair Yoga adapts traditional poses and stretches for individuals with back, hip, knee or ankle problems. Students will sit or stand (if comfortable) while addressing strength and balance.

Both of Taylor’s courses are well-suited to beginners. “We frequently have people join us who have never taken a yoga class before in their lives,” she said. “And we always have a great time.” Guests should wear loose, comfortable clothing and bring a yoga mat, a thick towel (for back support) and plenty of water.

Two other yoga classes are on offer this spring, and both also welcome beginners as well as experienced yogis and yoginis:

Yoga Flow & Social Hour is a fun and relaxing way to move, engage and wind down at the end of a long day. First, you’ll enjoy a vinyasa flow yoga class in the beauty of the Garden. Then you’ll connect with others while enjoying light bites and a health-conscious, cold non-alcoholic craft beer.

Yoga in the Japanese Garden is a four-session course taught in the Japanese Garden. This remarkable, meditative space will enhance your practice as you stretch, move and breathe.

“Everyone can do yoga, and when you can do it in a space as lovely as the Botanic Garden, it brightens your entire day,” says Taylor.