In recent years, yoga has transformed from a way to connect with your body to a sport involving baby goats, ropes descending from the ceiling, getting naked, and using paddle boards as your yoga mat. The newest trend is practicing yoga in unconventional spaces, specifically in art museums. Wellness is taking on a whole new meaning as it finds a connection to art, a trend which has woven its way to the Lyman Allyn Art Museum located right next to Connecticut College’s campus. These classes have already reached a local hype, with The Day posting photos from a class that took place in McKee Gallery.
The Lyman Allyn Art Museum is not the only museum partaking in this trend. Yoga classes have also been held within the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET), Indianapolis Museum of Art, and Rubin Museum of Art. The MET calls its adaption “The Museum Workout,” led by Monica Bill Barnes and Anna Bass. The two women lead participants in a high energy workout through various exhibitions around the MET. Maria Kalman provides the narration and class route, while the Monica Bill Barnes & Company — an American contemporary dance company based in New York — prepares the choreography. Barnes and Bass set out to change the typical way people experience museum tours. They offer those interested in yoga to explore the MET before beginning their class amongst sacred art. Marya Ursin, who teaches yoga in Connecticut College’s Dance Department, felt that Kalman and Barnes did not utilize the space as much as she would have. Although Ursin is not involved with the yoga classes being taught at the Lyman Allyn, she and other yoga instructors went into galleries at the MET in the 1970s and interpreted the paintings through movement.
On the first and third Tuesdays from 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. through the end of May, interested souls can participate in yoga at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum. Class costs $10 for members and $15 for non-members. Perhaps offering yoga classes in local spaces for cheaper prices than a deluxe yoga studio will help remove the elitism of high-end workouts. Marcia Gipstein, a trained yoga instructor in Kripalu yoga, guides the class through breathing techniques, physical postures, and mindfulness. Kripalu yoga draws from contemporary and traditional yoga disciplines, recognizing that all bodies are different which in turn allows everyone from various ages and abilities to participate. Gipstein explains that Kripalu yoga relies on four types of yoga: “bhakti yoga (devotion), karma yoga (action/service), jnana yoga (knowledge), and hatha yoga (physical health).”
On its website, the Lyman Allyn museum states, “ … experienced together, art and yoga can offer new ways of experiencing the world.” Gipstein believes the gallery allows for a more reflective and soothing atmosphere than a gym or yoga studio. “Being surrounded by the art makes it seem as if there’s another presence in the room welcoming us to connect with it,” according to Gipstein. She hopes other participants will feel this connection as well. After all, “yoga is a practice of introspection and inquiry, uniting body and mind,” explains Gipstein.
While I did not leave the Lyman Allyn Art Museum with a newfound perspective on the world, I left feeling relax, rejuvenated, and ready to tackle my day. This feeling is why Ursin believes yoga is so important for college students: yoga helps relieve tension in a stressful environment. The yoga class which I attended took place in the American Perspectives gallery in the museum. Participants were surrounded by post-war and post-modernist pieces, which Gipstein suggested we should observe throughout our practice. Gipstein led a traditional gentle yoga class and came prepared with extra yoga mats, blocks, straps, and blankets for anyone who desired these accessories. She played soothing music throughout the practice. We began the yoga practice with a breathing exercise. As I have been practicing yoga for many years now, I am familiar with the usual slew of postures: warrior one and two, tree, child’s and star pose, cot cow, and plank. However, Gipstein explained a way of breathing that I was not explicitly aware of, although probably practiced without even knowing; she instructed us to breathe in and out through our noses, holding the exhale for a few seconds, and then inhaling again to take in air in our diaphragm, stomach, and chest. I have always struggled with this component of a yoga class, preferring more intense vinyasa breathing movements that leave me in a sweat.
After Gipsteine’s class, I realized that taking time to practice breathing is vital to the yoga and mindfulness principle of staying in the present. While this fact has been obvious to me for a while, being in an artistic environment which showcased abstract pieces, rather than blank walls in a dimly lit yoga studio, helped focus my mind. So often we are told to let all thought seep away when meditating, something which often puts people off from this practice. Perhaps, the answer to a balance between empty thoughts and mindfulness is choosing the right setting that can stimulate your mind without distraction. Granted, sometimes your eyes are closed, but rather than focusing on your to-do list for that day, you can listen to the sounds of an art museum and try to repaint the painting you were looking at while in tree pose.
Although I will admit that my mind tended to focus on holding a pose rather than the artwork at times, Gipstein reminded us of the pieces surrounding our mats. In particular, she referenced the acrylic painting “Arcane” by Argentine artist Kazuya Sakai. In the painting, Sakai paints rainbow swirls on a bright orange canvas in reference to musical sound waves. Gipstein also brought our attention to “Yellow Band,” an oil painting on canvas by Esteban Vicente. This painting is also abstract, depicting blue and gold rectangular sections with a single thick, yellow line in the bottom half. Vicente’s painting invites the viewer to contemplate, a notion relevant to the practice of yoga which Gipstein reminded us.
Regardless of where you practice yoga, I think it is most important that we remember the wise words of Ursin: “yoga is whatever the person needs it to be.” •
I work with Monica Bill Barnes & Company. I can’t believe the number of inaccuracies in this article. I won’t list them all, but suffice it to say we have never been billed as an African American company before. Apologies to anyone who may be offended by this error. The writer and editors are not doing their job.