Uwishunu.com

Post by Benjamin Gilbert / Photos by Rachel Playe

This past weekend, by 8:30 in the morning. the landing at the base of Philadelphia’s Museum of Art looked to be alive as waves of yogis swarmed Living Beyond Breast Cancer’s registration booth and exhibitor’s tent. Yoga mats and bottles of water filled nearly every inch of space up and down Philly’s hallowed stairway, as ‘Blackbird’ somberly played over massive loudspeakers. At approximately 9:05 a.m., LBBC CEO Gene Sax took the small wooden stage below an anticipatory crowd of nearly 600 attendees, welcoming their sixth year and professing the organization’s $50,000 fundraiser goal, to many cheers from the now visibly glowing crowd.

“Namasté!”, yoga instruction leader Jennifer Schelter greeted the crowd with, just before a combination of chanting and drum beats from musical group Samadhi Kirtan led into an hour long “basic outdoor yoga class.” A fleet of Philly-area yoga instructors quickly dispatched themselves in order to assist participants and keep them from toppling over (or into those around them, for that matter.)

The sight of 600 people synchronously positioned, in a place that’s already breathtaking as a standalone view, is quite an experience (none the less at 9 o’clock in the morning.) Philadelphia’s nary looked so peaceful. Let’s hope for 1,000 people in year seven, if only for the sight alone.

Philadelphia’s Museum of Art
www.philamuseum.org

Living Beyond Breast Cancer
www.lbbc.org