Sunlight filters in through the leaves of a nearby cottonwood tree as climbers begin to find their place inside the yoga barn. This open-air structure has no windows or walls, but sturdy wooden floors and a peaked barn-style roof held up by wooden beams.
The atmosphere is peaceful and welcoming as Danny Baril, the instructor for climber yoga, greets each student warmly.
Participants roll out brightly colored yoga mats and begin to settle in. Danny Baril tunes up some mellow techno music, and class begins.
The next 60 minutes are a refreshing combination of mildly strenuous yoga poses followed by a healthy spread of restorative stretching and balancing postures.
“Yoga is a good complement [to climbing], because climbing is a lot of pulling,” Baril says. “In yoga we push into our fingers, into our hands, so you flex the wrists in the opposite way as you would when you’re pulling for climbing. It really is complementary in so many ways.”
The sun begins to set behind the rim and the light grows soft. Bodies move in concert — wobbling and then finding their balance again — until the last poses are taken and the participants breathe in unison for the final resting pose of the class.
People walk back to their cars in the dark, energized and restored, as the warm summer night settles in.
This is Climber Yoga: a weekly yoga class aimed at helping rock climbers increase flexibility and build strength. Baril has been teaching climber-focused yoga classes for over seven years, starting at the Boulder Rock Club in Boulder, Colorado.
“Being a climber myself, I know there are certain areas we use a lot. Our shoulders get used a lot and our backs. Hip flexibility is [also] very important in climbing.”
The class meets twice a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays, in a barn on the property of the Red Moon Lodge hosted by Baril and his partner, Courtney Laurell.
“It’s an outdoor yoga class, so it’s beautiful.” says Baril.
The yoga barn overlooks a green pasture that peters out into a grove of cottonwood trees next to a stream, birds flutter by as climbers take their next standing pose, and all of this is framed by the backdrop of the deep red cliffs. Climbers searching for a relaxing place to do yoga are treated to a gorgeous Moab sunset.
The class meets twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays at 6 p.m. There is a suggested donation of $5-$10; members of local climbing gym, Climb Moab, get free access.
There are a lot of benefits from a yoga practice, according to Baril.
“Breathing, that’s first and foremost,” he says. “Yoga brings this conscious level of breath where you put thoughtful intention into each breath, and then connect that to your movements. That directly translates to climbing.”
Those interested in attending a climber yoga class can head to a class or reach out to Baril through the Red Moon Lodge Instagram at @RedMoonLodgeMoab.
[Moab Sun News contributor Kaya Lindsay is also co-owner of Climb Moab. – ed.]
