Mind the Madness: Free Solstice Yoga in Times Square – Registration Open

It’s that time of year again! When the sun shines longest in the sky and yogis from across the Western hemisphere descend on New York City’s most highly trafficked intersection to surya namaskar en masse. The annual Summer Solstice Yoga in Times Square is set for Thursday, June 21st and registration is now open for your free spot and all the sponsored goodies that come with.

Summer Solstice Yoga 2018 doesn’t seem too out of the ordinary from past years – it’s close quarters with 1000s of sweaty yogis, there’s a ton of branded yoga stuff up in your grill, there’s a full day’s schedule of a variety of styles of yoga.

About that last part. From what we can tell, the biggest sun-glaring difference is that Bikram Yoga, which has maintained a slot every single year for as long as we can remember, is no longer on the roster. Instead, we have the same teacher, Donna Rubin, with the formerly-known-as Bikram Yoga NYC, Bode, which underwent a major rebranding and shedding of the namesake last year. (Understandably. We hear that man did some pretty abhorrent things.)

But maybe this is the time for change. It certainly feels like things are shifting under our feet lately, so this might be the perfect time to “let the sun assist in shining
away all our differences,” as Douglass Stewart, co-founder of Solstice in Times Square, says via their press release.

“It may be one of those times when coming together in a large group in a peaceful practice may be just what our minds, bodies and souls needed.”

“At a moment when the world is more chaotic than ever, Solstice in Times Square
shows that it is possible, even in what might be considered one of the more unexpected places, for people to find harmony within themselves,” says Stewart.

And the theme remains the same — “Mind Over Madness” — which rings truer than ever right now. Although maybe it’s more like “Mind the Madness.”

Here’s a clip from last year:

Here’s the 2018 schedule:

7:30am – 8:30am: Douglass Stewart (YogaWorks, Ishta)
9:30am – 10:30am: Jodie Rufty (YogaWorks)
11:30am – 12:30pm: #AerieREAL Empowered Flow with Catherine Gignac (Aerie)
1:30pm – 2:30pm: Donna Rubin, Jen Lobo, and Friends (bodē nyc)
3:30pm – 4:30pm: Colin Lieu (youth mindfulness instructor – NYC schools)
5:30pm – 6:30pm: Amy Pearce-Hayden (Yoga International)
7:30pm – 8:45pm: Swami Paramananda (Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers)

Read the teacher bios here. And of course, if you’d like to register, click here.

(One more oddity: there are usually non-profits that you can donate to while registering — ie. Bent On Learning, Exhale to Inhale, previously. This year they have the option to donate to two charities but we can’t find the names or info for the orgs anywhere on the site. Not sure what’s up with that.)

See: Scenes from 15,000 Yogis Celebrating the Solstice in Times Square (PHOTOS)

Bikram Yoga NYC Drops Bikram Name For Brand Relaunch