Start Your Day with Yoga on the Lawn

Yoga. It’s the oldest new thing around these days and for good reason.

Yoga is great for everyone: seniors, middle-aged people and children, athletes, couch potatoes, weekend warriors, moms and dads.

These days, it seems everyone is offering a yoga program with a new spin. So much so that it can be an adventure just to find the yoga program that’s just right for you.

Sound familiar? If you’re searching for that “just-right-for-me” yoga program, here’s a thought: Look outside.

Photo by Patrick Hendry on unsplash.com

Start your day in nature with “Yoga on the Lawn” Wednesdays through Aug. 28 from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook. The class is designed for beginners and led by experienced yoga practitioners. The class, for ages 18 and up, costs $40 for all four sessions in advance, or $14 per class for drop-ins. Register online or at 630-206-9566. In case of rain, the class Is held indoor inside the historic Mayslake Hall.

“The class is perfect for beginners and experienced practitioners,” instructor Jenny Wachter said. “We have every level in this class.”

Wachter also leads adventure programs for the Sierra Club. She discovered yoga more than a decade ago while attending a fitness camp in the Rocky Mountains. While working as a science teacher, she realized the power of asana and pranayama to create calmness and kindness in middle school students. She combines dance and science with yoga to create beautiful balanced sequences that strengthen and restore.

“As someone who has never done yoga before, I find this program relaxing, fun and challenging enough to keep me coming back,” says new yoga enthusiast Bob Mudge.

“Yoga on the Lawn” takes place in view of the historic Peabody mansion on the grounds of Mayslake Forest Preserve.

Marian Pezdek, a Mayslake volunteer and experienced yoga practitioner, described it best: “Overlooking the lake as the sun rises adds a serene component to an already relaxing activity,” noting that “the birds singing and the soft breeze complete the experience.”