Throw your firm, sculpted ass in the air and say “Namaste” if you love yoga – free yoga.

What started as a sacred Hindu religious practice is now catching on for athletes, hippies and hot suburban housewives the world over. 

Yoga is a la mode, which comes at a steep price. For a single class, a student may pay anywhere from $15 to $20 and up. For the rest of us that can’t actually afford to buy the Lululemon groove pants and eagle tank just to sweat in, it’s a touch out of our range. 

But free yoga has been sweeping across the city in recent months.

The West Central Women’s Resource Centre (WCWRC), the West End Cultural Centre (WECC) and the Ellice Café have partnered to offer the community free yoga every Monday throughout the rest of the year.

“We want to provide recreation that’s accessible to all levels of physical ability,” said Jess Klassen, community support coordinator at the WCWRC.
“We want to show people that there is something positive happening in the inner city.”

Diane Froese, the woman instructing free yoga at the WECC, says the classes are in high demand and only getting bigger since they began in September.

“There is a regular group that keeps returning and a few new people each week,” she said. “We get a huge age range – it’s a diverse group. We get a lot of young moms, there are some women all the way up to their 50s and even a few men come out.”

There is child-minding available at the WECC’s free yoga so women with children have the same opportunity to join.

Klassen says many of the women, and men, see the yoga session as a chance to socialize, and hang around after class to chat.

“It is a good way to connect with your community,” she said.

The turnout for most free yoga events has been phenomenal. Folk Fest, Yoga in the Park and now the University of Winnipeg Free Yoga sessions have had participants end to end in their poses.

Even the University of Winnipeg Students’ Association (UWSA) is offering free yoga for students as exams approach.

“We put it on around exams to remind students to take care of themselves,” said Lana Hastings, vice-president of student services for the UWSA. “We wanted to make it easy for students; there is no pressure. They can come without a mat, in their bare feet and go for it. It’s free and on campus.” 

Yoga is a physical challenge, but it also helps to ease stress. It forces you to pull your head out of the clouds and enjoy some fitness and human interaction.

The allure of yoga is that it’s not just an exercise, one instructor says.

“There are obvious physical benefits of yoga – strengthening your body, breathing, flexibility,” said Noah Krol, owner of Peg City Yoga. “A good yoga student can create an idea of yoga in everything. It can enhance every aspect of life.

It is a good platform for a personal approach to life, to sickness and to relationships, he noted.

“Yoga helps people feel empowered in their own skin.”

“It is exercise of the body and of the mind,” adds Klassen. “It is one hour in the day they can just think about themselves.”

Of course, nothing in the world is technically free, and the free yoga events are no different.

The Daniel McIntyre/St. Matthews Community Association (DMSMCA) has helped the resource centre foot the bill for Froese’s services.

Whether or not the program will continue on after December to meet its popularity remains to be seen.

“We only received a small grant, so after December we’ll have to search for more funds,” Klassen said.
Krol loves the idea and says that his studio is planning to get in on it.

“Free yoga is definitely a good thing. We want to give everyone the opportunity to be involved in it, even if they don’t necessarily have a lot of money,” he said.

The best part about free yoga is that everyone is welcome.

“We get people who are there for an intense workout and those that just want to relax,” said Krol.

“Yoga promotes mental and physical wellness,” Hastings stressed. “It puts that wellness in the hands of everyone.”

Drop by free yoga at the West End Cultural Center, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Mondays, or in the Bulman Student Centre at the U of W, Wednesdays 12:30 p.m. to 1:20 p.m., and breathe easy.

Published in Volume 65, Number 12 of The Uniter (November 18, 2010)