By Emily Tannenhauser
Last Friday, I said goodbye to winter and joined Juan Gamboa and his merry band of yogis to kick off season 3 of his P.A.R.C. Initiative. We gathered at the group’s usual meeting spot, a small grassy field next to the Delacorte Theatre, and as the sun set over Belvedere Castle, we took to our yoga mats and began to flow.
This was my first time joining the group, which first began practicing together in the Spring of 2020 as the city began to reopen after months of being locked down due to the pandemic. It was not however my first time taking a class led by Juan who has a way of making his classes so playful and fun you almost forget how hard you are working.
Juan started P.A.R.C., which stands for “Practice and Recover,” as a way to reconnect people and begin to heal. He mostly holds his classes in Central Park, but also at donated yoga studio spaces around the city during the cooler months. At a time when so many people fled the city for the suburbs, this group of hardcore New Yorkers found a way to come together and celebrate the city they loved.
All are welcome at Juan’s classes and there are no rules. The woman next to me practiced as her eight-month-old daughter sat in front of her happily playing with her toys, and a couple of practitioners brought along their dogs to join in the fun. Those in the area or who happen to pass by are encouraged to join in if they want.
“Play if you can and pay what you can,” says Gamboa who doesn’t charge for the classes, but accepts donation if you feel so inclined. To find out more about P.A.R.C or when the next class will be held, you can email Juan at juanyoga@gmail.com
Omg ! Emily this is so so rad ! Thank
You for your highlighting this PARC community! Grateful!
This is great Emily! I might try a class on a nice day. Thanks for the info!
I am new to yoga. Is this class appropriate for beginners? If so, how does one find out when it meets?
Nothing screams upper west side like a person wearing a mask outside doing yoga in a park, and another wearing a Biden Harris shirt.
True. But this picture may be from summer 2020 leading up to the election and when outdoor masking was advisable since people were still not vaccinated.
Nice class!
But safer for dogs and people to leave dogs at home – dogs cannot be off-leash in Centrak Park at this time.
absolutely. it appears that the dog is off leash, which is against the law.
Why is this lovely story being hijacked into a leashing issue??? There are no dogs roaming in the photos. And I have done many outdoor fitness activities in parks with my dog who is always on leash.
What day(s), what time, for how long is the class, please?
When does this class meet?
Wonderful concept. When and where are the classes???
I looked on Instagram, Facebook, and various web site including ones linked direcly from the instructor’s pages, and there is no schedule and no information that makes sense. I appreciate that the article says to email the instructor.
That seems a baffling way to run anything these days.
Corrected email address:
christianyoga should be christianyogaNY@gmail.com
It’s the best way to communicate directly without having to sign up for the usual social website clutter.