Change up your workout routine by trying free yoga sessions at area parks

Yoga is a great way to stay fit, and the Cedar Rapids and Marion parks and recreation departments are offering free, summerlong yoga classes for all ages. The classes are sponsored by the Blue Zones Project and instructors are volunteers from local gyms. Sessions take place on May's Island Plaza Park each Saturday at 8:30 a.m. with no registration required. Just bring a mat or a towel and see what yoga can do for your body.

Cedar Rapids Parks and Recreation Department Recreation Supervisor Rob Wagner is excited about this new program and hopes for growth in the following weeks.

'May's Island is a great community gathering area. Participants can do the yoga and then go up to the market to get a bagel or purchase sweet corn, listen to music. (It's a) great way to start your day out.'

All types of yoga and positions are taught. Don't let your lack of yoga knowledge deter you from this experience. Poses can be done by all ages and watching others is helpful to learning this new form of exercise. Poor weather cancels the sessions, but participants and organizers have been supportive of this event, despite recent rainy weather.

The Marion Parks Department also hosts free yoga sessions every Saturday in July and August at Lowe Park and at the Klopfenstein Amphitheater at 7:30 a.m., giving participants a variety of times and places to attend a class. No need to be an expert to attend, Wagner says.

'This is a very relaxing outdoor event with like-minded people,' he says.

For those who are unfamiliar, yoga is a type of exercise using various body positions and stretches with breathing techniques to promote healthy relaxation. Nancy Paris of TriYoga in Cedar Rapids provides insight for the interesting effects yoga can have on a body.

'Practicing yoga can increase strength and flexibility, increase one's ability to focus and increase one's ability to relax and deal with stress because of the body-breath-mind connection. Yogic breathing can be very relaxing and can also increase energy and the ability to move into and sustain the poses. More and more research is showing the physical and mental benefits of regular yoga practice.'

TriYoga is a non-profit organization here in Cedar Rapids.

'In TriYoga we coordinate the motions with the breath and this leads to inner awareness and relaxation in action,' Paris says.

Even for people who are not athletic, yoga can provide mental benefits as well.

'Yoga benefits the body, mind, emotions and spirit so people who regularly practice yoga will feel improvement in their lives and their sense of well-being,' Paris says.

Recent research has discovered a link between regular yoga sessions and a decrease in anxiety, depression, and even diabetes. New research conducted at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine was shared earlier this summer.

'This preliminary study indicates that a yoga program would be a possible risk reduction option for adults at high risk for Type 2 diabetes,' the study authors write. 'In addition, yoga holds promise as an approach to reducing cardiometabolic risk factors and increasing exercise self-efficacy for this group.'

Research conducted at the S.S. Medical College in India published in the Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology and stated, 'Yoga nidra, known as yogic sleep, may reduce the symptoms of diabetes and help control blood glucose levels.'

Citizens are encouraged to take advantage of these free opportunities relaxation and rejuvenation this summer.

NewBo City Market's Meet Me at the Market also does a weekly yoga class on Thursdays through Sept. 24 starting at 6 p.m. on the front lawn, or inside if it is raining or too wet. Registration is from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

Meet Me at the Market also offers a group bike ride, walk, and run every Thursday. All events are free but registration is requested.