This July, yoga instructor Adelle Leonard is travelling across Canada spreading her love of outdoor yoga through free classes in parks.
Inspired by Healthy Parks Healthy People, this program aims to bring people outdoors with an opportunity to practice yoga in breathtaking natural environments.
Yoga outdoors boasts a large amount of benefits, as well as an opportunity to try something new and connect with a new community.
Benefits of yoga
The science of yoga was developed over 5,000 years ago, and its teachings are still studied and passed on today due to the countless benefits of this practice.
Some well-known physical benefits of yoga include increased flexibility, stamina, muscle strength, joint mobility, balance, and breath capacity.
Other physical benefits to a regular yoga practice include improved circulatory system and immune system functionality, an increase in body awareness, and reduction of pain in the muscles and joints.
While yoga boasts countless physical benefits, the mental and emotional benefits of the practice are also quite endless. Yoga assists in reducing stress levels, fatigue, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and general worrying or overthinking.
Nature is good for you
Spending time in nature has countless physical and mental health benefits as well. As little as 30 minutes outdoors can drastically reduce stress levels, blood pressure, anxiety and mental fatigue. A natural increase in oxygen intake boosts happiness levels, creates more energy in the body and calms the nervous system functions.
Spending time in nature also stimulates creativity, focus, and inspiration. Connecting with the earth we gain a better sense of the health of world around us, the health of our communities and of our own physical and mental well being.
Don’t forget about the beautiful scenery available outdoors too!
Why do yoga in nature
When we experience the benefits of yoga and the benefits of being outdoors together, the two create a very supportive relationship.
The practice of yoga paired with a natural outdoor environment supports a greater connection to your self, and a larger connection to the earth. Nature invigorates and stimulates the senses, which assist the yoga practice in helping you to naturally feel more connected to your body, and in turn what’s around you.
If you are a current practitioner of yoga, taking your practice outdoors can turn a familiar routine into a heightened experience. If you are new to yoga, an out-of-studio class can created a gentle welcoming approach to try something new in a supportive and nurturing environment.
Ready to try outdoor yoga? The dates for Adelle’s classes are:
July 1: Lake Superior Provincial Park – 5:00 pm
July 2: Lake Superior Provincial Park – 10:00 am
July 3: White Lake Provincial Park – 5:00 pm
July 4: Rainbow Falls Provincial Park – 5:00 pm
July 5: Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park – 1:00 pm, 5:00 pm
July 28: Sleeping Giant Provincial Park – 10:00 am
July 29: Sleeping Giant Provincial Park – 10:00 am
Follow the Adelle’s journey through Instagram at @adelleleo, and share your yoga and nature stories with #namastayinnature and #HPHP.
About Adelle
Always being inspired by the physical body and its abilities, Adelle began her yoga journey as a means to promote greater balance within.
After years of self study, she pursued her passion to inspire and embarked on the path of a yoga instructor in 2010. Adelle was motivated to share her knowledge and dedication to healthy living with others.
Influenced by the connection of mind, body, and breath, she strives to create fun, challenging, alignment-focused sequences that guide individuals closer towards the path of self.
Certified in Hatha, Vinyasa, Restorative, and Chakra Yoga, her classes are weaved with creative flows, supportive adjustments, and clean, clear instruction with soul.
She is an ambitious explorer who is deeply captivated by nature, and dedicated to living in rhythm.