In recent years, options for practicing yoga in the Capital Region have expanded more dramatically than one’s lungs during a round of Pranayama. Classes available locally can take you from A, as in asana, to Y for Yin, and include practices that incorporate weights, heat, swings and even goats.
After a long winter of being indoors, upstaters looking for an outdoor activity are in luck, because there have never been more opportunities to take your mat outside and get bent. Here are some al fresco classes, many of them at low or even no cost, to consider if you’re ready to reach for the veritable sky while doing your sun salutations.
NOTE: This is a pretty inclusive list, but hardly exhaustive. If we’ve missed something, please, let us know!
Heartspace classes, offered in both Albany and Troy, beginning tonight, June 12th.
The Hot Yoga Spot conducts classes in numerous outdoor locations – including Stuyvesant Plaza.
As part of the Fitness at the Plaza series, presented by Blueshield of Northeastern New York, The Hot Yoga Spot is offering “Sunshine Flow Yoga.” Get centered and flexible in the unique setting of the Empire State Plaza.
Goat Yoga at June Farms is a popular and recurring event throughout the summer. There’s also tacos and beer and wine, with each yoga class member receiving one complimentary drink and three tacos of their choice as part of the price of admittance.
If yoga with an alcoholic beverage on the side is your thing, there’s more where that came from…
The Nine-Pin yoga series kicked off in May, and is led by Sheryl Campbell of The Hot Yoga Spot. Tickets are only $15 payable in cash at the door but space is limited. All levels are welcome. A complimentary glass of cider is included in the price.
Fort Orange Brewery regularly hosts a Sunday morning class, part of their “beer yoga” series. Keep an eye out here for additional information.
Perhaps you’re an early riser, and you’d like to mark International Yoga Day with an early morning flow. An all-levels flow led by area yogis – Jammella Anderson, Meg Horan, Eileen Fitzgibbons, and Jessica Padula – is taking place on June 21 at 6:15 a.m. at Jenning’s Landing at the Corning Preserve. (This is a lululemon of Albany event).
Further afield …
Jai Yoga has an array of offerings, but their Hike and Yoga class, in particular, caught my eye. See all upcoming events on their website.
Yoga of the Earth at Olana. Want to get your Om in while taking in a fabulous view? Then this pay-what-you-will series at Olana has your name written all over it! (Wonder if Frederic Church was a yogi…)
More goat yoga – complete with “goatie cuddles” – can be had at the Mariaville Goat Farm in Pattersonville. You get a farm tour, gentle yoga and the goats, all for $10. A bargain.
