On Friday night, I ventured to south Denver to photograph a big group of people attempt to stand on their heads.
It was time for Friday Night Yoga Club, and Denver Post travel editor, Kyle Wagner, and myself were there to see what was what. She was brave and participated in the posing and head-standing. I opted to observe with both feet firmly planted on the ground. Party pooper.
Friday Night Yoga Club is a weekly yoga event held every Friday during the winter at various yoga studios around the Denver metro area. A whole slew of bendy, enthusiastic yogis attend and first have a 90-minute yoga session, then eat food, listen to music, dance and hang out.
I was so very impressed with the participants, the DJ, the yoga instructor – a truly lovely person with more energy than I thought possible, and that’s saying something from a coffee fanatic such as myself. It was a really joy-filled event. And frankly, a lot of fun to be around.
And even more impressive: no one broke anything flipping up into the inverted – heads down, legs up, keep breathing and concentrate – poses. Applause.
One of the tricky parts about photographing this event was trying to get in the thick of things without getting in the way of the participants. I didn’t want to mess up the flow of their practice. And on a more selfish note, I didn’t want to get beaned in the head with a rogue limb.
Luckily, everyone was very gracious with me skirting in the small gaps between their yoga mats, and no one was injured in the making of these photographs.
This little girl is Teagan Stout. Her mom, Denise Cook (left), co-founded Friday Night Yoga Club. Teagan spent most of the night running around, joking with people, eating spicy food (hence the face in this photograph). Her mom somehow managed to get the little seven year old to settle down enough to meditate at the very beginning of the yoga practice, but that was as motionless as I saw her the whole evening.
Please check out Kyle’s story about Friday Night Yoga Club. She wrote a great piece that really illustrates what it was like to participate in this event and come away unscathed. And, there is a photo slideshow of a few more images as well.
Thanks, everyone!