SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28, 6:30-7:45 PM
Let’s flow together under the moon’s gentle influence!
Join the Urban Vybe Tribe for a transformative 75-minute vinyasa yoga session with live music. Discover the serenity of yin yoga and meditation overlooking Lake Grapevine.
Just bring your mat and water. Donations warmly welcomed for: Denton County Friends of the Family. Click here for all the details and secure your spot through the Urban Vybe app.
6-7 times a year, Full Moon Yoga at Sunset Point offers the chance to connect with nature as the sun sets over Lake Grapevine
Many enjoy the lake and sunset views from Lakeside, but those who practice yoga at Sunset Point may feel the most passionately about those views and the spot. Under the guidance of Jo Stokes, owner of Urban Vybe in Lakeside, they have been putting the deck’s expanse and views to good use six to seven times a year since the spring of 2017. That was not long after Sunset Point first opened and about the time Urban Vybe began welcoming clients.
Yoga at Sunset Point takes place on Saturday evening, October 28 (weather permitting) they will gather again to practice yoga as they inhale the breezes off Lake Grapevine, enjoy those views, commune with the crickets and cicadas, and salute, or howl at, the full moon. (Full Moon Yoga is offered from April through October.)
“As humans,” said Stokes, “we need to get out in nature and experience it around us. In a concrete jungle, your health suffers. Breathing in the fresh air while surrounded by nothing but trees, lake, and sky, you feel one with nature and connected to the earth.”
Highland Village resident Bill Easton met Jo Stokes 15 years ago when he first tried yoga at his wife’s suggestion. The former college athlete was feeling worn down after having run one too many marathons and having lifted his fill of weights. But he remained skeptical of yoga until, after five minutes, he found his face drenched in sweat during his first session. When Stokes opened Urban Vybe in Lakeside, he became a regular.
Jo Stokes: a Lakeside business owner who “gets it”
- Opened Urban Vyble in March 2016, the name clearly linking the studio to the walkable Lakeside community — one of her many community-boosting efforts
- Has lived in Avalon Lakeside ever since she and husband Kevin sold their home in Highland Village and purchased a 25-acre retreat in Valley View
- Started Full Moon Yoga at Sunset Point in 2017 in an effort to attract attention from people in northern Flower Mound, Highland Village, and other areas
- Stokes has a passion for bringing people together at the studio and at Sunset Point
- Organizes an annual Earth Day trash clean up in Lakeside
- Charities – draws attention to a worthwhile cause at each Full Moon Yoga
- Fought to keep Urban Vybe open during Covid when the fitness industry took a hit with large numbers opting to work out at home; Stokes is still working to get back to those pre-COVID membership levels
“I travel a lot for business,” Easton noted, “and I’ve been to studios around the country. Urban Vybe is one of the very best — awesome teachers, great music, and the infrared heat. You find people there from all over DFW.”
During COVID, Sunset Point became a “special place for me,” Easton remembered. “With classes canceled in the studio, I would head there to do my own yoga workout alone almost daily. But I was very happy when the studio reopened and full moon yoga resumed at Sunset Point.”
“Full Moon Yoga at Sunset Point has to be one of the best places in the DFW area to offer a yoga class,” said instructor Marisa Solomon. “You have the breathtaking views of the sun setting over the water. We encourage everyone to keep their phones close during the class so they can capture the beauty of the sun setting.”
And the setting sun attracts other visitors to the public park as well.
“Sometimes,” said Easton, “people will be all around. They’re mesmerized by the sunset and entertained by the yoga. They’ll come down and walk in front to get a better view. Bikers come, too.“
“We do a Moon Flow class to calm us and slow down our pace,” explained Solomon. “Then we end the class with a gentle Yin portion and conclude with meditation to live music and sound bowls.”
“Matthew, the musician, is really good,” said Easton. “They have bowls that make beautiful sounds. And sometimes there are incense bombs. The whole thing comes together.”
“It creates such a peaceful and serene setting for people,” added Solomon, “to allow their minds to calm down, their body to find stillness and with the sound of the water below washing over the rocks to find a little peace in our busy and hectic lives.”
“What’s so cool about Sunset Point,” Easton said, “is the way the different levels face the lake and sky. And the sun sets right in the background. It’s just awesome.”
“When’s the last time you laid down outside and looked up?” asked Stokes. “We are a heads-down generation,” she pointed out. “During Yoga at Sunset Point, you look up and see birds fly by. Lying on your back, you have time to look up at the clouds and sky, appreciating the beauty we miss most of the time because we’re too busy.
“Outdoors, things shift. You feel the breeze and the warmth of the sun and the warmth of the people around you.”
“I even enjoy the walk down there [on the Lakeside Boardwalk],” Easton acknowledged. “There is parking located closer to Sunset Point now but I prefer to walk the entire length. It’s kind of magical when you walk back to your car after sunset. It’s lit by [down] lights. It’s one of the few times, in an urban area, that I feel perfectly safe. A great walk.
“The general message about yoga at Sunset Point,” he added, “is Wow! Especially when the Harvest Moon rises with that intense red color. It takes your breath away.”
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