Friday 21st June is International Yoga Day. A day promoting health, mental well-being, emotional resilience and inner peace. I’ve been regularly practicing yoga for 4-years and I can’t imagine life without it. Everyone’s yoga journey is a different one, but everyone can agree that it’s physical and mental benefits are endless. Yoga tones you up, builds your strength, builds your flexibility, cultivates mental resilience, and lowers stress levels – so what’s not to love about yoga? 

Last year in Get Away with Dre, we focused on Yoga Retreats around NSW, this time I’ve combined 2 of my favourite things together – yoga and the outdoors. Practising yoga outdoors is meditative and can be liberating, the breathing exercises performed outdoors are rejuvenating, it awakens the body, and feeling of the sun on your body while doing yoga can feel invigorating. It’s an immersive experience that connects your mind and body with the earth and elements. I know it sounds frou-frou, but it really feels that spiritual if you’re mind and body are open.

So here are a few outdoor yoga activities to try in Sydney:  

Yoga Under the Bridge

At Dawes Point Park, on the corner of Lower Fort St and George St at the Rocks on Sunday mornings, there are 2 sessions that run for 60 mins – 8:30am and 9:30am – and it’s free to join in a class. You need to register online to sign a waiver form. If the weather is bad the class will be done online so you don’t get to miss out.

Park Yoga

Did you know there are plenty of park yoga classes around Sydney. Check out Live Life Get Active a community that runs free yoga classes in local parks. Their aim is to keep people healthy and happy in the community. You can search by suburb, register and meet at the deisgnated time and place. You don’t even need a matt to do a class, the instructor can bring one for you if you wish. Talk about convenient.

In the Western Sydney Parklands, Yoga in Nature and Bush Bathing sessions with be held on Sunday 30th June & Sunday 21st July. This is a 60 minute yoga class in the bush and a 60 minute meditative and sound session led by an instructor.  

Beach Yoga 

If you live near the beach, you’ll probably already know of a few local beach yoga classes available. Beach yoga are classes held on a grass patch or concrete pathway by the beach, or physically on the sand at the beach. What makes this interestings is doing yoga in the sea breeze and being surrounded with the sound of the ocean. It can be transformative.   

In Narrabeen Surfside Yoga is held on the sand, Yoga By The Sea in Bondi takes over a section in the south side of the beach, and Cronulla Seabreeze Yoga is held on the grassy area.

Stand up paddle Yoga

Take your yoga to the next level. Balancing will become a challenge and it makes it fun. You’ll be using different muscles to stabilise yourself so you’ll get a good core workout. You paddle out to an area organised by the instructor and your boards get tied and connect to each other, the instructor and a bouy to stop rouge floaters. A SUP yoga board is usually wider and thicker than your basic paddle board and it’s supplied by the yoga company. Flow Mocean in Manly are the leaders in SUP Yoga. Their season begins in October and runs throughout Summer. They also do Kayak Yoga sessions as well.

Yoga wineries

When you don’t mind a little vino with your vinyasa. Yes, this is a thing! Because mental well-being is always about balance, this is definately one to try. The yoga goes first, then the wine tasting obviously.

There’s Yoga in the Vines in the Hunter, in Tasmania this Saturday at Bangor Vinyard Yoga + Wine tasting has a yoga, wine, cheese & chocolate package, also in Tassie Home Hill Wines do a yoga, wine and brunch morning in their cellar shed.