a yogi on the beach

i was one of the close to a hundred yogis who congregated just north of the hermosa beach pier this morning for the 100 yogis on the beach celebration.

this large-scale yoga event on the beach was held as part of hermosa beach's 100th birthday celebration. in order to attract as wide an audience as possible, four classes were held simultaneously, within close proximity of each other: vinyasa flow, iyengar, kids' yoga, and prenatal (and contrary to what you would think, the iyengar class did not make use of any props. from what i read, the iyengar class was more of a hatha yoga class taught in the traditional style while the vinyasa flow was more of a cardio workout.)

the weather was perfect for our outdoor practice. with the summer sun still trying to burn its way through the morning marine layer, the air and sand temps were cool and comfortable. plus we were spared the blinding glare from the bright sunlight which was just beginning to peek through the clouds. the weather gods couldn't have done any better.

each class was team-taught by teachers hailing from the local yoga studios -- alive and well, lyfe yoga, the pilates room and yoga lounge, yoga loft manhattan beach, yogasofia/body mind and soul -- as well as by other yoga teachers who teach around the south bay -- athena engleman, danay divirgilio, desiree bartlett, kristin doubet, and leeann carey.

i chose to join the vinyasa flow class. our teachers for the 75-minute class were desiree bartlett, sofia meyen, jeri reeder, sandra liaw, ginger lewis, athena engleman, genevieve fischer, and page sieffert. of the group, i had taken classes with only two of them before -- genevieve at yoga loft and sofia at yogasofia -- so it was a great way for me to be introduced to the rest, especially desiree and athena whom i probably would never have been able to take classes with since they teach at places other than yoga studios.

according to the event schedule, each of the other three classes had a roster of three instructors. since our group had twice as many teachers, i can only assume it's because there were more vinyasa flow yoga instructors in the teacher pool than those who taught prenatal, kids, or even iyengar yoga. if given the chance to take two classes, however, i would have loved to have taken the iyengar class, too, so i could have met the planet yoga/lyfe yoga teachers, i.e., michael ruccolo, kristin doubet, and leeann carey. i'm sure i'll get a second chance somehow...

with all the yoga studios on the westside where i live, wouldn't it be fantastic if they could put together a similar event? after all, with it possibly being the yoga mecca of los angeles, just think of all the teachers and students who could potentially show up on the beach in santa monica! is anyone out there listening??? :)