Dozens of people with varied yoga experience combined their energy to make the first Yoga in the Park event a success. With Barbara Kosciewicz of High Street Yoga providing the yoga instruction, the large crowd gathered on the island in Memorial Park near the pavilion and worked through a basic yoga lesson bathed in sunlight Saturday morning.
From the many Hill School students to local residents, the beginner yogis to seasoned practitioners, each person in the crowd made a place for their yoga mat, towel or blanket, and embraced the yoga lesson offered free of charge. Organizer Ellen Nelson, chairperson of the art department at The Hill School, said she thought Yoga in the Park would fit in perfectly with The Hill School's theme of community this year.
She was inspired by a video project Kosciewicz did around Pottstown with yoga poses as a focal point. (A link to the video can be found on Kosciewicz's blog, linked on The Mercury's Town Square, at yogawisdomforeveryday.wordpress.com/). She saw all the places in Pottstown Kosciewicz visited and used yoga to facilitate making connections with those in the community.
Nelson was hopeful a large group would find their way to the park Saturday morning and partake in the lesson and join together in a yoga community. She was pleased with the result. "It was definitely what I expected and I had high expectations for it," Nelson said of the event. "I was so impressed with Barbara ... I was moved by the students (from The Hill School who participated) and all the participants who came."