Yoga classes will greet the morning

BY LOUISA MURZYN

Times Correspondent

MUNSTER | If you're up early every morning, you just might find a group of yoga enthusiasts doing their daily practice outdoors to greet the day.

"Sun salutation in yoga is greeting the sun and showing your gratitude for its rising every morning," said yoga instructor Kimberly Moore, of Hammond.

"You stand up and reach overhead, which is a form of appreciation. Traditionally it's done at dawn. It's a way to prepare the body for the day's labor or further yoga exercises."

Sun salutation is one of the most familiar sequences in yoga and is a series of 12 poses performed in a single flow that increase strength and flexibility. It begins and ends with joined hands touched to the heart.

Local residents will not have to wake at sunrise to revere the start of a new day this summer.

Starting this Sunday, Yoga in the Park is set for 9 a.m. Sunday mornings at the Edward P. Robinson Community Veterans Memorial, which is located at Calumet and Superior avenues.

Classes take place under the pavilion and continue through Aug. 31. A variety of yoga styles will be offered such as therapeutic, power, flow, back and meditation yoga as well as chi gong and guided relaxation.

Besides Moore, instructors from throughout the area include Andy Wichlinski, Dana Wichlinski and Kathleen Dominiak. The cost is $8 to cover park rental, and participants should wear comfortable clothing and bring a yoga mat.

Thousands of years ago, yoga started in the forests of India. In fact, many of the postures bear names gleaned from nature such at mountain, tree, cobra and half-moon.

Yoga outdoors opens the practice to a wider perspective, Moore said. Breathing in a calm, measured manner is a key part of yoga and when fresh air is involved the practice oddly is both invigorating and relaxing.

"There are benefits to breathing fresher air, and, esoterically, it's easier to be connected to the environment and not cut off from nature," she said. "You're more conscious of the wind, the sky above and the earth beneath you."