April 6, 2006
Yoga is more than fitness
Baby-, punk-, ‘n now, artsy-yoga in US
“It may seem like an ordinary art lecture for the visitors viewing a watercolor titled “Moon And Cumulus Cloud.” But the listeners are sitting on exercise mats and wearing sweats.
It’s a yoga art session, an effort to soothe the soul and tone the body in the inspirational setting of an art museum. After the art lesson on how the painter captured the effect of nocturnal light on the landscape, the visitors will get an hour-long yoga session.
“Yoga is really more than fitness,” instructor Rachael Nickel explains before one of six Saturday morning classes at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. “It’s a tradition that’s over 5,000 years old, and it’s really a spiritual tradition. So it’s really a wonderful blending of art and movement.”
As yoga holds strong as a popular form of exercise and relaxation, specialty classes are everywhere. More than 12 million Americans participated in yoga in 2004, up from 11 million in 2002, according to the most recent surveys by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association.
Add artsy yoga to the ranks of power yoga, baby yoga, kickboxing yoga, chair yoga, punk rock yoga and plus-size yoga.
Anamaria Ross, an Anthropology Professor at Utica College in central New York City, said she first took a yoga class for pregnant women three years ago and didn’t hesitate when she heard what the art museum was offering.
“It sounded like a dream,” Ross said. “There’s a chance to come here regularly and hear someone talk about the art and do yoga again.”"
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