Get ready to jam - yoga jam.
Tomorrow (Sept. 3), Squamish's O'Siem Pavilion will be full of downward dogs, happy babies and warriors. It's all part of the town's first yoga jam, an initiative started by Whistler yoga instructor Erin Anderson.
A year ago, Anderson hosted the first jam in Whistler. She was inspired to start the event after meeting two Kenyan yoga instructors at a workshop in Mexico. The instructors were from the slums of Nairobi. They were introduced to the ancient Indian activity through the Africa Yoga Project, an organization that provides scholarships to help Kenyans become yoga trainers.
"We heard a lot about each other's lives," Anderson said. "Their striving put my life into perspective."
Once back in Canada, she set about raising money for the Africa Yoga Project by initiating yoga jams. So far, Anderson has raised $11,500 for the initiative and yoga jams have spread to six communities, including Squamish.
"It stopped being about the money pretty quickly. There is a bigger picture here," she said.
Squamish yoga instructor Isa Mills seeks to bring that bigger picture to this town. Following in the spirit of previous yoga jams, Squamish's event will be a fundraiser for the Africa Yoga Project. But Mills also hopes it will bring the community together. Everyone, young and old, is welcome to attend.
"I want people to come out of their little pockets and come together," Mills said, adding that by the end of the jam she wants people to have met new friends.
Squamish yoga instructors Kristin Campbell and Jos茅e Fontaine will help Mills lead the event in Pavilion Park. A DJ will spin tunes and a raffle will take place at the end of the jam.
The yoga jam runs from 3 to 5 p.m. Tickets to participate cost $20, with all proceeds going to the Africa Yoga Project. For more information, visit Yoga Jam Events on Facebook.
"It doesn't matter how big or small the jam is, it will be powerful," Mills said.
