This year marks the fifth anniversary of DC Yoga Week and Yoga on the Mall, and we have some great celebrations planned, including adult and kids’ yoga classes led by DC Yoga Week instructors, and a very special appearance by Shiva Rea, who will guide participants through one of her renowned prana flow yoga classes. We will also have demonstrations of yoga, hula-hooping, interactive acro-yoga and budokon, along with performances of indian dance, live african drumming and kirtan music. For a full list of who's joining us, see below.

Yoga on the Mall will take place at the NE corner of the Washington Monument, near the intersection of 15th St. and Constitution Avenue, on Saturday, May 15 from 1-5pm. Nearest metro: Smithsonian. Participants are encouraged to wear loose, comfortable clothing and to bring the following:

• yoga mat or blanket
• snacks and drinks
• your family and friends!

No previous yoga experience is necessary.

Yoga on the Mall Description of Events

Kids Yoga Class Parents - please bring your kids for a free yoga class that starts at 1pm sharp!

Hoop Dance Yoga Drumming and Hoop Dance Yoga performance and demonstration with Hoop Dance DC featuring Jaguar Mary and Yara Hoop Dance is the return of hula hooping as a movement meditation! The practice uses colorful, fitness hoops to strengthen the body, amplify creativity and encourage community. Dubbed "the new yoga," hoop dance is mind-body-spirit fitness. For more information, please visit: www.hoopdancedc.com

Acro-Yoga Demonstrations and Partner Participation With DC Acro-Yogis DC Acro Yogis will be demonstrating yoga and acro-yoga asanas (poses), and encouraging Yoga on the Mall participants to try acro-yoga poses with a partner. For more information, please visit: www.makeyoganotwar.com

Yoga Classes Led by DC Yoga Week Teachers, Accompanied by Music from Wynne Paris Wynne Paris is an artist/producer who has spent the last 15 years living as a yoga troubadour. Inspired by performances with the Indian hugging saint ‘Amma’ and H.H. the Dalai Lama, Wynne left Washington DC to follow eastern spiritual traditions. He moved west to California and immersed himself in meditation, Indian music and the Sarod (a 23 stringed cousin of the sitar). In 1998, Wynne worked with the Yoga music pioneer Krishna Das on his breakthrough album ³Pilgrim Heart², which brought yogic chanting with western influences, or Kirtan, into western holistic & yoga culture. Indian Dance Demonstration with Vrinda Buchwald Spoken Word Yoga Poems by Haweh (MC for Yoga on the Mall)

Shiva Rea Class with Drummers Shiva Rea is a leading teacher of transformational Prana Flow Yoga and YogaTrance Dance . She began exploring yoga at the age of fourteen as a way to understand her name, given to her by her father, a surfer and artist. Her studies in the Krishnamacharya lineage, Tantra, Ayurveda, Bhakti, Kalaripayattu, world dance, yogic art and somatic movement infuse her approach to living yoga and embodying the flow. She is known for bringing the roots of yoga alive for modern practitioners in creative, dynamic and life-transforming ways and for offering the synthesis form of vinyasa flow out into the world. For more information, please visit: http://www.shivarea.com Click on Image to Enlarge

Music By Jabari Exum Jabari is presently a member of the Hip-Hop duo Hueman Prophets and is also a member of Farafina Kan (West African Percussion Orchestra). He is a full time teacher of West African drumming and Creative Writing, and is also a freelance percussionist with a number of renowned artists, including Raheem Devaughn,Ayanna Gregory and Fred Yonnet, to name a few. Visit: http://www.huemanprophets.com /or/ http://farafinakan.com/ to witness Jabari Exum in action.

Drumming with Kristen Arant Kristen is a drummer, drum instructor and performing artist living in Washington, DC and specializing in the West African Mandingue drumming tradition. She is the Founding Director of the Young Women¹s Drumming Empowerment Project ­ a drumming, poetry and performance art empowerment group designed to build the confidence and self esteem of teenage girls living in the DC area. For more information, please visit: http://www.youngwomendrum.org/

Budokon DC Crew - The Physical Practice The Budokon physical practice draws upon ancient and modern yogic and martial arts styles. The foundation of the Budokon physical practice is precision, alignment and Zen mind. For more information, please visit: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Budokon-DC/93020383745#!/pages/Budokon-DC/9302 0383745?v=info

View 2008 Event Photos