Evening yoga classes offered at Alex Theatre

Photo Gallery: One month of free yoga classes at Alex Theatre start today

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Yoga student Michele Fortier, of North Hollywood, reaches to the sky at a weekly yoga class in the courtyard entrance to the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Monday, September 21, 2015. Four weeks of free hour-long class started today. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Alison Elliott, of Pasadena, Michele Fortier, of North Hollywood, Cheryl Pakidas, of Glendale, and Patricia Phillips, of Glendale, lean forward with arms extended at a weekly yoga class in the courtyard entrance to the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Monday, September 21, 2015. Four weeks of free hour-long class started today. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Students rest at the end of an hour-long yoga class at a weekly yoga class in the courtyard entrance to the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Monday, September 21, 2015. Four weeks of free hour-long class started today. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Yoga instructor Keric Morinaga walks between students holding a dhanurasana pose at a weekly yoga class in the courtyard entrance to the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Monday, September 21, 2015. Four weeks of free hour-long class started today. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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A partnered stretching exercise is practiced by yoga students Michele Fortier, of North Hollywood, and Cheryl Pakidis, of Glendale, at a weekly yoga class in the courtyard entrance to the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Monday, September 21, 2015. Four weeks of free hour-long class started today. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Instructor Keric Morinaga warns the students that the pose he is demonstrating and asking them to try is pretty difficult at a weekly yoga class in the courtyard entrance to the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Monday, September 21, 2015. Four weeks of free hour-long class started today. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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A small group of 9 yoga students in a downward dog yoga position at a weekly yoga class in the courtyard entrance to the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Monday, September 21, 2015. Four weeks of free hour-long class started today. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Alison Elliott, of Pasadena, with her leg extended behind her, stretches her hand forward at a weekly yoga class in the courtyard entrance to the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Monday, September 21, 2015. Four weeks of free hour-long class started today. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Ginny Simpson, of Glendale, who has been to many yoga classes, unrolls her yoga matt for her first class at a weekly yoga class in the courtyard entrance to the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Monday, September 21, 2015. Four weeks of free hour-long classes started today. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Yoga instructor Keric Morinaga teaches his students a common yoga routine at a weekly yoga class in the courtyard entrance to the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Monday, September 21, 2015. Four weeks of free hour-long class started today. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Cheryl Pakidis, of Glendale, practices the child’s pose, a yoga pose that signals the instructor the desire for a rest, at a weekly yoga class in the courtyard entrance to the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Monday, September 21, 2015. Four weeks of free hour-long class started today. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Yoga students at a weekly yoga class in the courtyard entrance to the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Monday, September 21, 2015. Four weeks of free hour-long class started today. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Ginny Simpson, of Glendale, holds a yoga pose at a weekly yoga class in the courtyard entrance to the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Monday, September 21, 2015. Four weeks of free hour-long class started today. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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As the sun sets, at a weekly yoga class in the courtyard entrance to the Alex Theatre is midway through the hour-long session in Glendale on Monday, September 21, 2015. Four weeks of free hour-long class started today. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Alison Elliot, of Pasadena, Michele Fortier, of North Hollywood, and Cheryl Pakidas, of Glendale, stretch into a pose at a weekly yoga class in the courtyard entrance to the Alex Theatre in Glendale on Monday, September 21, 2015. Four weeks of free hour-long class started today. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

By Arin Mikailian

Sept. 22, 2015 5:28 PM PT

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About a dozen yogis got on all fours for the first pose during a lesson as the sun was setting. Instead of the typical hardwood floor of a yoga studio, these students had laid their mats across the forecourt of the Alex Theatre.

Now in its second year, the PopUp! Yoga series is back for another four weeks at the historic venue and it got started with the first session Monday evening. All sessions are free, though a $10 donation is suggested.

PHOTOS: Free yoga classes offered at Alex Theatre

Mixing yoga with downtown Glendale creates a unique spin on the meditative practice, according to one of the organizers.

“You’re hearing traffic and everything, but because yoga is about bringing yourself in and entering a deeply meditative space, that sort of adds to the nuance of the surrounding area instead of distracting it in any way,” said Jess Castillo, special events coordinator of Glendale Arts, the nonprofit that launched the series and manages the Alex.

The class will be held for the next three Mondays from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The first week’s instructor was Keric Morinaga, a Glendale resident and owner of Urth Yoga in Silver Lake.

Instructors from his studio will lead upcoming sessions, he said.

Morinaga said Monday’s lesson focused on the teachings of hatha yoga, a style that’s probably the most well known.

“It refers to the physical yoga as opposed to doing meditation and chanting … We’re doing poses people see in movies and on TV,” he said.

And it takes Morinaga only a few minutes or so to determine each student’s skill level and caters the class toward them.

Resident Cheryl Pakadis calls herself an intermediate yoga student, but that doesn’t mean everyone else has to be.

“It’s not an intimidating practice,” she said. “It’s for all different levels.”

Pakadis is a returning student who joined in on the PopUp! classes last year, and she invited some of her neighbors to come along this time around.

“It’s just so nice to be out in the middle of downtown Glendale and be a part of the community and be active and get to meet your neighbors,” she said.