Whanganui’s annual 10 Days of Summer Yoga by the Awa events continue to grow

Up to 40 people have been taking part in the sessions. Photo / Finn Williams

A growing group of Whanganui yoga enthusiasts have gathered at Pākaitore Moutoa gardens for 10 Days of Summer Yoga by the Awa over the festive season.

Ten free yoga classes are being held between December 26 and January 4, with eight different teachers holding classes.

Organiser Rosemary Miller said attendance for this year’s events had been great and interest had grown year-on-year.

“We’ve had between 11 [people] on the day when it was threatening to rain and did rain, right up to 40 people - so a really good turnout.

“It just keeps growing,” she said.

The events were first held four years ago when Miller decided not to head out of town for the Christmas holidays.

She wanted to hold her own yoga retreat “and I thought ‘Well, why not let others join me’.”

Miller said the event was a good way for the community to come together, regardless of whether they were experienced or “a newbie”.

The New Year period was great for people to start in yoga, she said.

“It’s a good chance at the start of the year to set some new intentions about doing something different and looking after yourself and your own physical wellbeing,” she said.

“There’s something really magical about doing yoga outside and there’s something very spiritual about doing yoga at this place.”

The event is organised by a collective of Whanganui yoga teachers coming together for two biannual events - an outdoor festival in the summer and an indoor festival in the winter.

Miller said the growing numbers showed there was a strong yoga community in Whanganui with many different teachers, some of whom were also taking part in the outdoor classes.

She said it hadn’t been decided if 10 Days of Summer Yoga would be back next year, she presumed it would.

The remaining two sessions get underway at Pākaitore at 9.30am on January 3 (with instructor Tash Coneybeer) and January 4 (with Miller).

There is the option for a koha donation and people need to bring their own mat if they require one.

Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.