Fitness Carter: Pop-Up Yoga comes to York

Lindsey Keeney, foreground participated in a lunchtime Pop-Up Yoga York class at an art gallery featuring the work of Carmen Walsh in downtown York in October. (Jason Plotkin - Daily Record/Sunday News)

A small collective of yoga teachers in York County decided to add a little extra fluidity to their practices by starting a Pop-Up Yoga arm in York.

"We are bringing yoga to the people," said Jackie Dahlheimer, one of the group's teachers. "Creating a moving community."

Pop-up Yoga refers to holding an organized class that is distinguished by its setting in that the principal use of the space is unrelated to yoga.

"There is nothing wrong with practicing in a studio," Dahlheimer said. "It's safe. But it's powerful to just show up and make a yoga studio."

The Pop-Up Yoga movement came to the Central Pennsylvania area first in Lancaster County.

Seeing that success, Dahlheimer, along with five other instructors, decided to hold a few classes in York to see if they would catch on.

Four months into the experiment, the group is gaining momentum, Dahlheimer said.

"The classes are still small," she said. "People are still trying to find us."

Currently, the group hosts about seven classes, five days a week, with locations around York, including restaurants, bars, art galleries and dance studios.

"We are always looking for suggestions or recommendations for other spots," Dahlheimer said.

And the collective is hoping to expand to locations throughout the county.

Recently, the group met with the Pop-Up Yoga Lancaster folks for a session on the grounds of Lauxmont Farms in Lower Windsor Township.

For a couple of months this fall, a majority of classes were held in a temporary art gallery next to the Park Street Pantry on Beaver St. in York.

The gallery was run by artist Carmen Walsh, who welcomed the yoga practice to her space.

"I thought it would be nice to offer the space," Walsh said. "I figured it might encourage people who might not normally come in."

Carmen Walsh hosted a lunchtime Pop-Up Yoga York class at her art gallery featuring her photography in downtown York. (Jason Plotkin - Daily Record/Sunday News)

Although Walsh was not been in the gallery long enough to know the impact of Pop-Up Yoga, she said she would recommend the idea to other business owners.

"People will come in for the yoga who might not know they like your products, or you're in a part of town they don't normally come to," she said.

And practicing in an art gallery adds to the beauty of the practice, Dahlheimer said.

"It gives you a way to walk into a building you've never been in and feel welcome," she said.