Celebrate National Yoga Month With Free Classes

It's September. Do you know where your inner yogi is?

Free yoga for a week ought to help you find her.

September 1 kicks off National Yoga Month, and to help inspire would-be yogis to get off the couch and onto the mat, the Yoga Month website is distributing coupons for "One Week of Free Yoga" at more than 1,200 studios nationwide.

Administered by the Yoga Health Foundation, the 30-day celebration is designed to motivate people to practice yoga, according to its founder and 20-year downward dog veteran, Johannes Fisslinger.

"We want people to experience the benefits of yoga," he said. "Health comes from the inside out. Yoga not only strengthens every part of the body and increases flexibility; it is also scientifically proven to reduce stress, which is a major cause of illness."

Whether you're in the mood for a serious sweat session or a mellow meditation, a free month is likely to encourage even the most yoga-challenged individual to give it a try.

In addition to free classes, other yoga studios are reaching out to the community with educational events, donation classes for a charity, contests and giveaways.

Go Yoga in Fernandina Beach, Fla. is challenging students to a playful competition by asking, "How has yoga transformed your life?" The winner will receive free yoga for the rest of the year. "We are hoping the community really takes the time to think about our relationship with each other, our environment and the world in which we live," said Go Yoga co-owner Cassie McClellan. "At its root, the word 'yoga' means to join, to bring together. Our hope this month is that everyone realizes our oneness, our interdependence, our yoga."

Another group of studios in Chicago is putting on a free outdoor yoga day that includes lakefront classes, Thai massage and kids' programs. There is also a music-yoga festival in New Jersey. And certain cities are offering free citywide classes.

The long-term goal of National Yoga Month is not getting more people to om in unison; rather it's about leading people to more fulfilling, conscious lifestyles.

"The most difficult part of helping people get into a practice is just that -- getting into a practice," said McClellan. "It's not a once-a-week or once-a-month thing." It's a state of being -- one that really begins when we roll up our yoga mats and step out into the world.

Also part of the September awareness campaign is the release of "Titans of Yoga," a movie that brings together 25 prominent worldwide yoga and meditation teachers who share their greatest life challenges -- from depression to illness to destructive sex, drugs and rock-and-roll lifestyles -- and how they transformed them into their greatest life victories. Movie proceeds benefit Yoga-Recess in School, which takes yoga-based health education into classrooms.

"If we can change just one person's life this month, it will be worth it," said Fisslinger. "You just feel so different once you try yoga. There is nothing else quite like it."

For more details on National Yoga Month in your town, click here.