Yogis enjoy outdoor class
Staff writer
At the end of Shannon Hoffer’s first summer yoga class in Marion, a light rain began, followed by a double rainbow arching over Central Park.
“It was perfect timing,” Hoffer said. “It was like Mother Nature and I were right on point.”
The day’s class was designed for detoxing — incorporating different twisting movements and postures to massage abdominal organs such as the liver, kidneys, small intestine, and colon. Hoffer said the sequence of movements was set up in a way to help the body transition smoothly from one pose to the next.
Monday was the first time she ever taught outdoors. Six yogis attended the class on the stage platform just west of Central Park above Luta Creek.
“It’s a great stage, perfect location,” Hoffer said. “We could use music, and bugs weren’t too bad. It adds something special you can’t have in a classroom.”
Monday was the second class with Hoffer for Nicki Case, who said being outside helped her experience.
“I’m not really good at slow-paced relaxing,” she said. “But outside I did better than inside.”
Case said doing yoga was a nice change to the step routine workout she had done earlier in the day.
“It was actually pretty cool,” she said. “It was relaxing with the outside noise. It’s nature’s music.”
Hoffer said the next class would be in the same location July 7 and continue every other week. As the weather warms up, she’ll consider doing two sessions.
She can be contacted at hoffer.shannon@gmail.com or on Facebook.