Jesse Winter, Centretown News
Yogis take part in a weekly yoga class on the lawn at Parliament Hill. The event had its most successful year yet.It’s been a summer of record-setting attendance at the Parliament Hill weekly yoga sessions, bringing in more than 2,000 participants a day.
Parliament Hill Yoga (PHY) is hosted by the Rideau Centre branch of Lululemon Athletica Inc., and began in 2007 with volunteer yoga instructors and only a handful of people.
From May until the end of September, members of the Ottawa community are invited every Wednesday from 12 until 1 p.m. to lay their mats on the grassy lawn of Parliament Hill and practice their downward dogs and warrior poses.
Those who attend the sessions are from all walks of life: whether civil servants, diehard yogis or the completely inexperienced.
The event is so well attended that often finding a space on the lawn of Parliament Hill is impossible and participants usually end up spilling onto the sidewalk.
However, this was not always the case.
“When we started it was only six people on the lawn,” says Ichih Wang, a yoga instructor who has been involved with the event since its inception. “By the end of that summer we had about 36 people on the lawn.”
Wang teaches at the Pure Yoga studios in Ottawa. One of its locations is in the Centretown area where the focus is on life coaching, yoga retreats and a variety of yoga classes.
Wang collaborated with Lululemon to instruct the yoga classes on the Hill and says Lululemon, which often hosts free yoga events, approached her with the idea.
Wang maintains that PHY is not a business venture.
“It’s not there to promote Lululemon,” she says.
“It’s there to offer to the community of Ottawa and help get teachers acknowledged.”
Among the many teachers who taught on the Hill this summer is Philippe Landel – otherwise known as “Phil the Yogi.” He teaches at various studios throughout the city.
“It’s a different experience to be able to teach in front of 2,000 people,” he says.
“You’re getting your voice out and getting the opportunity to become visible.”
Wang and Landel both say the number of yoga teachers and studios in Ottawa has increased in the past 10 years and networking has become very important for teachers.
“It’s hard to stand out,” says Landel, adding that PHY is an opportunity to do that.
Not only does it build a community for yogis, but it also provides a space for those who cannot afford yoga memberships.
Polina Lepniakova, a track-and- field athlete with the University of Ottawa Gee Gees is a frequent attendee of PHY.
“I loved feeling like a part of something so big with so many people of different ages and backgrounds,” she says. “It felt really special to participate in something like that.”
The event is now so popular that this summer the Rideau Centre branch of Lululemon created a clothing line with the acronym PHY.
Also this summer, the number of free yoga events unrelated to PHY has increased.
“I think yoga is very beneficial,” says Wang. “Not because it’s yoga, but it’s a way to bring people together.”