Outdoor yoga comes to Bluffs

COUNCIL BLUFFS — In addition to its fountain, memorial and plaza, Bayliss Park offers a new lure this summer: yoga.
Following a national yoga-in-the-park trend, local yoga instructor Carrie McDonald will instruct free workshops at 9:30 a.m. on the second Saturday of the month until September. The next date is June 11.
McDonald is a certified personal trainer and nutrition specialist working for Iowa Western Community College, the YMCA and the Center in Council Bluffs and Fit in the City in Omaha.
Cities like Seattle and New York City have had yoga in city parks for years, but the practice is expanding. Omaha started it this year — every Sunday afternoon in Turner Park — and she said Des Moines has had one for a few years.
McDonald said her free sessions are about reaching out to the community and bringing yoga to the masses. Equipped with a sound system, she leads vinyasa flow yoga at Bayliss Park. Vinyasa means “breath-synchronized movement,” so during vinyasa flow yoga, the teacher instructs participants to move from one pose to the next while inhaling or exhaling.