Yoga in Farragut Park, Washington DC. We just got back from a week-long visit to the nation's capital where we did the "tourist thing". On the day we walked past a class like this taking place in a park a block from our hotel I was on the homestretch of a long, hot day of seeing all the monuments and memorials along the Mall. My Fitbit recorded 8.3 miles. The temperature on the bank marquee read 93-degrees. My feet had blisters, my sundress was sticking to me, my face ruddy -- flushed with heat and perspiration. But to see this colorful group of people in the grass, stretching and bending into familiar Asanas, was like a gift from home. A reminder. An "ahhh...."
I had neglected my practice for the six days prior, during a pre-DC visit with family in Florida and Georgia. Now in DC, I was focused on seeing all I could see in the next six days, and again, Yoga didn't factor into my schedule. The class was more than half-over when I happened upon it and my sundress didn't seem like appropriate attire to for me to join in. Plus, no mat.
But if there is such thing as "Yoga benefit my osmosis" I got a bit of it anyway. It was calming to watch; to listen to the instructor as she wandered between the rows of practitioners, guiding them through a gentle flow sequence. Some seemed expert, others novice. Most were young, but body shapes and sizes were varied. I loved the freedom they felt to move as was best for them in a small triangle-shaped park in the heart of the DC business district, observers sitting on park benches and hordes of commuters crowding the sidewalks only 10 feet away, wending their way from the nearby Metro stop.
I love taking Yoga out of the studio, putting it on display, hopefully encouraging others to join in as they can. The clothing, the mats, were a riot of color against the backdrop of a marble and cement city, bringing a moment of peace, joy, and intentional movement to a scene which can under normal circumstances we one of mindless goal attainment....gotta get from here to there quickly and without pause.
For me, hot, tired, sore, and eager for the cool confines of my hotel room, Yoga in the Park was a pause most welcome. ©
Namaste, donnajurene
I was in Washington D.C. a few weeks ago, doing all the touristy things. One of them was a visit to the U.S. Supreme Court building. (My other blog, My View From Here, has a few posts with more details about my trip, if you are interested http://www.myviewfromhere-donna.blogspot.com.) 
I don't really know what makes Yoga for Lawyers different from Yoga for anyone else, but in reading the Amazon reviews I understand that the combination of scientific "proof" that yoga works to calm the mind and body, along with detailed descriptions and illustrations of practices has some appeal to the super rational left brains of those who practice law. 
