Amber Zidarevich Kilpatrick wears many hats. She is the community organizer for Eastown Community Association, a Midtown Neighborhood Association board member, an instructor at Seva Yoga, a wife and a mother to a 10-month old.

Since May, Amber has made a weekly trek each Wednesday to Midtown Green (735 Fountain NE). Not far behind are a handful of students, brandishing yoga mats, who journey from every direction in Midtown and even Heritage Hill and Eastown. They've come for Yoga on the Green, a 30-45 minute yoga session that Amber teaches as a fundraiser for MNA.

"There's always a new face, which is great," Amber said. "We're seeing a lot of new people being introduced to yoga: Neighbors, friends, people who have never met."

Amber began practicing yoga in college. Although she has been practicing for 10 years, it was only a year ago during a prenatal session at Seva that she began to think about teaching.

"I think at that point in my life, I was in a really spiritual state of mind because I was creating this new life within me and I was just open to all sorts of possibilities and found such a love for yoga that I wanted to share it with everyone," Amber said.

She currently teaches prenatal yoga at Seva and has instructed at a couple of corporate retreats. Amber was inspired to start Yoga on the Green because she wanted to expose more people to yoga. She teaches a hybrid of the Hatha and Vinyasa traditions.

"Hatha is all about creating the balance in your life, so it's a balance and a connection to mind, body and spirit, breath," she explained. "Vinyasa literally translates to 'flow,' so the poses are connected by a series of flow in between."

Yoga has taught Amber to be aware of her limits and strive for balance, and she hopes to bring the practice to the community at large.

"I feel comfortable in saying that I do give my all to everything I'm in at that moment, so if I'm at work in Eastown that day, I'm 100% into it. When I go home, I'm 100% a mom and a wife. When it's time for yoga, I'm a yoga teacher."

Yoga on the Green takes place at 7 p.m. every Wednesday. It is subject to Michigan weather and cancelled in light of rain or acts of God. Blankets, towels or roughing it on the grass are as conducive to practice as yoga mats. There is no suggested minimum donation.

To get event invites and reminders, become a fan of Midtown Neighborhood Association on Facebook.

 

Compiled by Denise Cheng, MNA board member