Bring your yoga mat because the benefits of enjoying nature and yoga will be combined in one special event at Colony Farm Regional Park to mark World Rivers Day this Sun, Sept. 28.
Yoga practitioners will be joining forces with the Watershed Watch Salmon Society, Simon Fraser University's Centre for Community Development and the Kwikwetlem First Nation for what's being called #MyWatershedMoment.
Watershed Watch executive director Craig Orr said the goal of the event is to connect people with the idea that nature's health benefits can only be protected if people make an effort to preserve the ecosystems.
"These researchers have found that just spending a little time walking by a river, in a forest can lower your heart rate and stress levels," said Orr.
"There's all these benefits of nature therapy," he said, suggesting that people, including politicians, need to understand that it's not just wildlife that benefits from preserving rivers and streams, but people.
The event is taking place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Colony Farm Regional Park and the day will consist of a large-scale yoga class and speakers talking about the health benefits of nature and ways to preserve it. Yoga leaders Todd Inouye and Kristin Campbell will teach the large-scale yoga class at 10 a.m.
Mark Angelo, founder of BC Rivers Day and World Rivers Day, has high praise for #MyWatershedMoment, according to a press release. "This event is exactly the sort of innovative engagement we love to see," he said.
You can follow the event on Twitter at #MyWatershedMoment; participants are encouraged to bring their own yoga mats.
To find out more and register, visit www.watershed-watch.org.
