Backcountry Yoga

You breathe deeply, focusing on your breath, struggling to clear your mind. But your ears are filled with the droning of the air conditioner, footsteps outside the studio, cars honking on the street outside. The room smells like sweaty feet and damp gym towel. The instructor tells you to lift your gaze to the sky, but all you see are ceiling panels and florescent lights. It’s time for something different. It’s time for Backcountry Yoga.
Backcountry Yoga brings your practice outdoors, and very quickly you’ll realize this is where it belonged all along. Backcountry’s instructor, Laura, does a phenomenal job blending a traditional yoga class with hiking, meditation and an immersion in the great outdoors. You can participate in regular yoga classes held in Middlesex Fells, mountaintop day trips, or (as I experienced) weekend-​long retreats in the mountains. Ever climbed a 4,000 foot mountain and practiced yoga on the summit? If not, than you haven’t lived! And once you have, you’ll never want to go back into the studio. This is the way yoga was meant to be practiced.