August 23: Yoga & Live Music on The Lawn at Dawes Mansion

by Lisa Faremouth Weber

Yoga & Live Music on The Lawn at Dawes Mansion was started as a result of a cooperative effort between The Evanston Historaical Society and me, Lisa Faremouth Weber, owner of Heaven Meets Earth Yoga. Due to the friendship between myself and Romy Ransom, who recommended me to be the Chicago Ambassador for National Yoga Month, I started an outdoor yoga class on the lakefront in Evanston 5 years ago. Yoga means to join and I embody yoga best when I practice outdoors in nature among friends. It feels good to connect to the energy all around me, to inhale fresh air and see the natural gifts of nature while I am moving my body in and out of yoga poses. That is when I most experience flashes of samadhi or bliss which lingers long after my practice is done. I feel like I am practicing yoga all the time now. I am inspired to offer outdoor yoga at the lakefront in Evanston to encourage people to experience the the wonderful lakefront here in our own backyard instead of having to spend thousands of dollars traveling to a spa.

I met Sven Oskar Hansen and Bob Macko of Mahara Band when they came to Heaven Meets Earth to play live music during a yoga class celebraring my 50th birthday. At the front desk, Sven and I began visualizing what it would be like if we held this experince outdoors at Dawes Mansion in Evanston. I had recently joined the Evanston Historical Society when I went on the Annual Mother’s Day House Walk in Evanston, so I called and proosed this idea to them and they loved it. I have partnered with Mahara and The Evanston Historical Society offering monthly yoga & live music clesses the third Saturday of each month during the summer for 2 years now.

Now we hold The Evanston Yoga & Dance Festival Fall Equinox Celebration on the lawn at Dawes Mansion. Our season opens with our Summer Solstice Celebration and ends with the Fall Equinox Celebraion. Each month our attendance grows. The next classes are Saturday, July 19, August 23 and September 20 from 9 to 10:15 All Levels Vinyasa Yoga Class with Live Music and Sound Healings during savasana using didgereedo, drums and chakra chimes, Reiki healings, refreshments, prizes and more.