Yoga Anyone? Yes, But Only Outdoor Yoga For Me!

I have come to love and appreciate yoga. For me, I’ve discovered, only outdoor yoga will do. It may be related to my meditation journey (which you can read about here), but the opportunity to be present in my body, truly take in the sights, sounds and smells of the outdoors has been an amazing discovery. So whenever possible I take advantage of an outdoor yoga class.

Outdoor Yoga Close To Home

We are very fortunate in Oak Park, Illinois to have 1) beautiful parks and 2) a great Park District with lots of varied programming. On Sunday mornings, when the weather permits, is a yoga and breathwork class in a park, under trees with an amazing leader, Betsy Grimm. I know Betsy from our ad agency days; she is a talented art director turned yoga, meditation instructor and somatic coach. You can check out Betsy’s website here and even her YouTube channel where you can do yoga and breathwork along with her.

It’s here, doing this class under the dappled light of the trees that I became aware of the power of being outside and doing these movements. Mind you, just like my dip-your-toe-in meditation, I am no yogi. But I can’t deny the power of slowing down, having your feet grounded in the grass and taking deep breaths of fresh air. There is something restorative and spiritual about it.

view of a beautiful blue sky and white clouds looking up through the trees.

When fall comes and the days turn colder the class moves to a studio inside. I’ve tried it and for me it’s just not the same, so I take a pause until I can do yoga al fresco again.

Yoga On The Beach

Luckily, every winter I’ll make at least one trip to visit my Dad in Florida – and I’ll do yoga on the beach as many times as I can fit into my trip.

Yoga with Elin on Venice beach is an amazing treasure. She has designed the class to work for all levels and ages. My 90-year old father has done the class with me many times, proclaiming “she stretches every muscle in your body!” He usually takes a cane or a folding chair for balance. The class is free, with donations welcome.

Woman and her father sitting on the beach ready for a yoga class

Woman and her father standing on the beach after completing a yoga class.

There are two morning classes and a sunset class. It is just awesome to have your feet in the sand, listen to the waves and sea gulls and doing yoga with up to 300 people. Each class draws a pretty big crowd of regulars and what you can tell is probably family visiting. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend it.

Goat Yoga

What could be better than yoga outside? Yoga with goats!

Goat Yoga Chicago was a birthday gift one year and IT WAS AWESOME. There is something magical about being outside, doing yoga and having goats just walk about and want to be with you participating. Thumbs up, highly recommend goat yoga!