Ryan Bearden, one of the Boro Yoga Fest instructors
Yoga enthusiasts and aspiring beginners can look forward to the Boro Yoga Fest in March, a new festival centered around yoga, community involvement and the encouragement of healthier lifestyles.
Scheduled for Saturday, March 18 at the Lane Agri-Park Community Center, the Boro Yoga Fest will host yoga instructors from within the Murfreesboro community to teach guests about a variety of yoga styles. One of these instructors is Sunshine Nutrition Center co-owner/operator Kim Dunaway, who also serves as the coordinator of the Boro Yoga Fest.
“All the yoga teachers are Murfreesboro residents, and that was really important to me,” said Dunaway. “I thought about maybe bringing in some more from Nashville to fill in the different styles, but honestly I didn’t have to. We have enough unique styles here in Murfreesboro to have a full day of yoga.”
Some of these yoga forms set to be taught at the festival include power yoga, vinyasa and meditation among other forms and styles. Both newcomers and veteran yoga aficionados will be able to find something they can enjoy due to the more than seven hours’ worth of planned activities and lessons.
“We definitely encourage beginners to come because it’s a great opportunity to be introduced to a lot of different types of styles,” Dunaway said. “A lot of time, people think, ‘I don’t even know what style of yoga I want to do, I don’t know what this style is,’ so it’s definitely beginner-friendly. Most teachers are trained to be able to teach someone who’s there for the first day and also someone who’s been doing yoga for 20 years.”
Kim Dunaway, right
The idea behind the festival came from the success of similar neighboring efforts including yoga festivals in Nashville and Chattanooga. Another large influence on the Boro Yoga Fest is The Prison Yoga Project, a nonprofit organization devoted to bringing yoga lessons to prison systems to benefit inmates. All of the proceeds from the Boro Yoga Fest are set to be contributed to the project.
“What Prison Yoga Project does is really two things,” Dunaway said. “They do Prison Yoga Project trainings for current yoga teachers, and they also bring yoga teacher trainings into prisons where they can teach inmates to become yoga teachers themselves. It’s grown, it’s basically all around the country now.”
At a more local level, the Boro Yoga Fest also hopes to contribute to the Rutherford County Work Center by collecting books on yoga and healthy living to donate. To assist with this effort, soft-cover yoga and wellness books can be donated at the Boro Yoga Fest and at Gold’s Gym Hot Yoga locations in Murfreesboro and Smyrna.
Thomas Stevenson
Aside from the yoga lessons, vendors from local businesses will also be in attendance at the Boro Yoga Fest. Massage therapists will be present, nutritionally conscious grocer Sprouts will have a booth and other apparel and fitness vendors will also set up to welcome guests in case they need a break from their day-long yoga session. I Love Juice Bar will also be attending the festival to provide food and drink for guests.
For more information about the festival and a complete schedule of the planned events, visit boroyogafest.com. Tickets are currently on sale for $35 each, and a student discount is offered. The event is scheduled to run from 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. March 18 at the Lane Agri-Park Community Center.
