[00:00:00] Foreign hello and welcome to Deepen your yoga practice. I'm Lauren Leduc, owner and founder of True Love Yoga in Kansas City, Missouri. And today I wanted to talk about practicing yoga outside. So practicing yoga in the great outdoors in order to connect more with ourselves, with nature, and with community. It is springtime. We're deep in it now, and it's also outdoor yoga season, so I thought I would dedicate a special episode just to that. In my opinion, practicing yoga outdoors really enhances your connection to nature and community and self. And it also is something that is just really special to me. So. So in 2013, I was planning on doing my yoga teacher training. I had signed up. I knew it was a few months away, and I was tending to my yoga practice very consistently at the time. I would go to these outdoor classes at the Nelson Atkins Museum, which is a beautiful art museum with a huge lawn in Kansas City, and there'd be like 15, 20 people there on Sundays during the nice season, practicing yoga together with a rotating group of teachers.
[00:01:24] And it was really fun. I loved going and practicing there. And one Sunday, I showed up and there was no teacher there. Something went wrong with the scheduling. There was some kind of mishap. And I heard this little voice inside of me that said, volunteer to teach. And I was so annoyed that this voice came up because I certainly didn't want to do that. I wasn't certified yet. I felt nervous, but at the same time, there wasn't a teacher there. But there were all these students and I had been practicing really consistently. So I decided to follow that voice and I taught a yoga class. I don't remember what I taught, but I do remember that it felt really good and that it was fun and that people had a nice time. So that was my first yoga teaching experience, which was really cool. And, well, fast forward two years later to the same spot I taught popup yoga. Kind of out of nowhere, very early in the season, like in March, and 50 plus people showed up. And that was the very beginning of my popup yoga program that became really popular in Kansas City that several months later rolled into becoming my yoga studio. So my origins of practice and of teaching really lie in outdoor yoga. And there's this sense of freedom, of community and play, and of openness. In outdoor yoga, there isn't this barrier of entry like there is in studios. It's typically free or donation based. Anyone can really just walk up and join in. Some people have mats, some people have towels. There are kids running around. So to me, it's Such a beautiful start to a yoga practice or a way to shake things up just a little bit. So again, outdoor yoga, it's really special to me and it's something that I still do to this day. So again, today we will talk about some benefits of outdoor yoga. How I think nature really enhances mindfulness and movement, how yoga philosophy supports our connection to the earth. And I also want to invite anyone who's local to Kansas City to join me and the other teachers of True Love Yoga for a free summer Pop Up Yoga series at the Museum of Kansas City. We've been doing Pop up yoga there for years. It is a beautiful space. Space. It is a free space to visit in Casey, and it has become home to our Pop Up Yoga program. So we're really excited to kick that off again this year. So there's so many benefits to practicing outside.
[00:03:53] One is heightened awareness and presence. So practicing in nature engages all of the senses. Indoor environments are very controlled. Outdoor environments, not so much. It's going to feel different day to day. Some days it's sunny, some days it's cloudy, some days it's windy, some days it's not. So it engages our senses in this where we can really anchor to the present moment in nature. So we're feeling the breeze, we're hearing the birds, or maybe looking up at the trees. During Shavasana, we're experiencing the sunlight. It really encourages to stay present and in the moment because there is so much rich sensory experience happening in nature all the time. Fresh air and sunshine have been shown to enhance mood, to reduce stress, to support mental clarity, to help us align with our circadian rhythm. So being more awake when the sun is out, being able to fall asleep easily when the sun goes down. And it also has this grounding effect. So taking your shoes off, putting your feet on the earth, in the grass, on the dirt, is such a beautiful way to downregulate the nervous system, feel more grounded and feel more connected. So again, it enhances natural energy and helps reduce stress in the body. So that's already a huge win because I know most of us carry at least a little bit of stress with us. Maybe more than that. It can always use those reminders to ground, to be present and to feel more energized in a way that's really healthy. Something I love about outdoor yoga is the challenge that it provides. Whether it's wind or maybe it's uneven ground that activates our sense stabilizer muscles and enhances our balance. Maybe there are distractions like the wind the sounds, the weather, people driving by and honking their horns, which helps us become more adaptable and more focused. Again, indoors is usually a more controlled environment, although my studio, True Love Yoga, is in a busy part of a city. And you never know what kind of sounds are going to happen during a class, or lights from sirens or whatever it might be. But you take that outside and you never know. You know, whether you're in the country or you're in the city, there could be all kinds of interesting distractions and just reminders to pull our focus back into ourselves and our practice and to be in the moment. Practicing outside also deepens our connections to nature itself and the elements. So in yoga and Ayurveda, we talk about the four elements of earth, air, sun and water, and how they interplay and how we find balance with them. So in outdoor yoga, we connect to earth. We ground through our feet. We connect to a sense of stability. We lay in Shavasana and allow ourselves to be held by Mother Earth. We get to feel the vibration or the energy of the soil, of the rocks, of all things solid. We also connect to air. We can feel our breath deep, filling with fresh air, releasing our carbon dioxide back to the plants. We can feel the breeze. We can invite in more prana, or life force energy, and not just taking it in, but like I said, this exchange with the environment around us. We also connect to fire or the sun, to the warming and energizing feeling that it gives us for this feeling of vitality and aliveness. And we can express our gratitude to the sun for rising every day, for leaving us every day, but coming back the next into our inner fire as well. This determination, this focus, this confidence that arises when we connect with the fire element and then also water. So our movement can mimic water. The flow of the trees can mimic water. We might be by a river or a fountain or a pond, there might be dew on the grass. We get to connect with our inner fluidity, our ability to adapt, our ability to fill this space that we're in, to truly connect with ourselves. So yoga philosophy really supports this connection to nature.
[00:08:12] One concept we can think of is ahimsa, which is the first yama in the yoga sutras. So really the first concept in the Eightfold path of yoga, which means non harming. So ahimsa is non harming. So as we're practicing outside, we can practice treating the earth with the same care that we give our bodies, with sustainability and respect and gratitude. We roll out our mats carefully. We leave nothing behind or Maybe we leave the space better than we found it and we send it all kinds of beautiful energy as we're practicing outside. We can also practice pratyahara, which is one of the limbs of yoga as well, which is withdrawal of the senses. Like I said, there can be a lot of distraction in an outdoor practice, which isn't a bad thing. We can of course be aware of our surroundings and what's around us and acknowledge it and accept it and then draw our senses inward or find pratyahara, which basically allows us to observe these sounds and sights and sensations with patience, without judgment, and with really like feeling ourselves as a part of everyone and everything, which is really cool. We also can practice santosha, which is also one of the niyamas of yoga and which is contentment. So contentment or acceptance. So we can embrace the imperfections in nature and in ourselves. To be quite frank, we can feel the uneven ground, the shifting clouds, we can see the wind moving, everything. We can see this sense of change. And we get to practice accepting this change with compassion and curiosity and non judgment. So a couple tips for practicing yoga outside.
[00:09:52] One is to bring the right gear. So that might mean a blanket or a towel or a mat that's going to be sturdy and do well outside. You might want to check on your yoga mat. Some of them don't do that great in the sun, so you want to make sure that you have something that's not going to be ruined. So even just like a standard, kind of beat up, cheap, crappy yoga mat would be a great thing to keep in your car or with you. If you're going to be doing outdoor yoga practices, think anything protective. So you might need sunscreen or bug spray depending on what time of year it is. And also water. You might want a towel, maybe to cover your eyes with during shavasana or to wipe off sweat. So you don't need a whole lot of gear. But just having a few key things can be really helpful. Another tip is to adapt to the elements. The wind, the sun, the uneven surfaces require a sense of flexibility in your mindset. So it could be easy to get angry at the wind or at the sun or whatever it might be. But just prepare yourself for the unexpected and try to embrace it as much as possible. I've even taught outdoor classes where there's not like a torrential downpour, but there's a light rain going on and when embraced, that can feel so, so good. Which brings me to my next tip which is embracing the experience. So really letting go of expectations and enjoy the beauty of imperfection, which includes just having a mindset of play. Think of little kids, they go outside and they experiment and they have fun. My daughter and her friend found a mud, or not mud, but like a dirt slide. They found a dirt slide in the park recently and they were just sliding down it over and over and having so much fun. They didn't care that they were getting dirty. They didn't care about what it looked like. It was all about just embracing and enjoying the experience. And I think we can all draw inspiration from that and the way that the children interact with the outdoors because they just want to be a part of it. They just want to explore, they want to connect and they want to see what they can do. And I think we can do all of those things as well. In an outdoor yoga practice, my last thing would be and you can do this inside a yoga space as well. But outside it's nice to introduce yourself to somebody. Through the years. I don't know how many connections have been made through pop up yoga and then through true love yoga as well, but it has been really satisfying for me as a teacher and as a somebody who gathers community together to really see all of these beautiful relationships form over time. And I think as adults it can be really hard to make friends sometimes. But know that you at least have one thing in common with that person who's outside with you, that they want to practice yoga. Right. Two things in common. They want to practice yoga and be outside. And I think for me those things are huge. If somebody likes those two things, we're probably going to get along pretty well. So maybe step out of your comfort zone and introduce yourself and see where those connections lead. So I'd love to invite you to our free outdoor yoga series. So for those of you in Kansas City or visiting Kansas City, we have free Pop Up Yoga at the Museum of Kansas City May through September, which is on second Saturdays. So May 10, June 14, July 12, August 16 and September 13 from 1 to 2pm and it is donation based so you don't have to pay. But if you'd like to donate you can. And I'll put the link in the show notes to join the event. It's super simple. I'll be teaching in May so I really hope to see you there. And it's a really special we practice under the shade of these beautiful old trees by this revived and renovated mansion that has become this museum with a really welcoming community. There aren't hundreds of people there typically, but there are a few dozen. So it's intimate in a way, but also super communal. It's open to all levels, it's beginner friendly, it's donation based or free. And it's such a great way to deepen your connection to yourself, to nature, to our city and its history as well, and to the northeast side of kc which is such a beautiful and historic part of town. So I'd love you to join us for these special outdoor sessions. Bring a friend, even your kids. It's very casual. Enjoy the fresh air, explore yoga in the new setting and then go explore the museum as well. It's such a beautiful space for our community and you can Visit
[email protected] again. I'll link it in the show notes and on our social media for details. So again, there are so many benefits to practicing yoga outside this deepening mindfulness connection, natural energy, adaptability. I'd love for you to try practicing outside sometime this week. Whether that's by yourself or in a group. Maybe it's just taking a few deep breaths in nature and notice how you feel. And again, I'd love for you to join us for Pop Up Yoga at the Museum of Kansas City this summer. It's going to be be so nice and I just want to say, happy practicing. Enjoy this deepened connection and thank you so much for listening today. Om Shanti, Om. Peace. Until next time.
