Yoga at Red Rock provides chance for seaside stretching

LYNN – Using the natural beauty of Red Rock Park, a Lynn YMCA outdoor yoga class is providing a chance for both Y and community members to stretch their muscles in scenic surroundings on Tuesday evenings.Instructor Marina Hartnett led an hour-long class this Tuesday for about 13 people, their yoga mats spread out in a circle on the grass. She encouraged them to inhale and exhale their way through various yoga asanas, or poses, as birds flew overhead and waves rolled onto the shore.?When people connect to nature around them, they?ll have more unity within their yoga pose,” Hartnett said. “Moving with the breath, surrounded by the ocean, the trees and elements of nature, they?ll find their inner self easier.”Hartnett guided members of the class, including an Item reporter, through standing poses such as Tree, which involves balancing one foot against the opposite leg; and Warrior 1 and 2, the leg movements of which are similar to a lunge. She also taught poses that involved putting one?s hands and feet on the ground, such as Downward Dog (similar to a dog stretching after waking up).For athletes, Hartnett said yoga can have an impact.?I think yoga can bring an aspect of being centered, more concentrated, and at the same time continue to breathe,” she said. “It keeps you more present, your mind in place. It?s easier to achieve goals in sports.”She added that posture-wise, yoga can help athletes “stretch muscles that you do not know you?re able to stretch,” such as in the hips and shoulders.The hips received special attention at times, with participants being asked to lift their hips off the ground from a seated position in one pose, and with Hartnett encouraging people to make their hips squared in another pose.Hartnett has been teaching yoga at the Y for almost one year and practicing yoga for almost 10 years.The Red Rock Park yoga is free to the community. The Y also has free Tuesdays for the community the first Tuesday of every month.