Clean Yoga sessions are run by two local fitness instructors, Victoria Douglas and Hannah Appleton, and combines their skills with their care for the environment. At each event, yogis take part in an stretching session, followed by a park clean and litter pick. We had a chat with the organisers...
What happens at your Clean Yoga events?
Victoria: Our events are all about enjoying the benefits of yoga outside, taking the time to look after ourselves and look after our environment. Myself and Hannah lead the community through a practice, then we clean up the surrounding area leaving it in a better state than when we started, doing our bit to reduce the plastic in wildlife and create more awareness about this problem.
Hannah: A lot of our events are free which makes it accessible for everyone. We also try and get special guests or companies to come down to promote what they do. At our next event we have Lush and Dash vegan store coming down to give out free samples and promote their amazing work at reducing single use plastics.
Why did you want to start these sessions?
Victoria: The environment has always been something I have cared about, although increasingly more so recently. I put a post out asking people if they would like to join me in a beach clean, Hannah approached me and together we said we’d love to tackle the problem with plastic in the city as well as by the ocean. And so Clean Yoga was born.
Hannah: I have been passionate about the environment for a long time now, when I saw Victoria’s post I couldn’t ignore it. I thought it would be a great opportunity for us to bring our love of yoga and our love for the environment together.
How many have you had so far?
Victoria: Our first event was back in May. Our Spring Clean which we hosted at the Forest Recreational Ground, and you can read more about it here. Our second event was down by the Riverside Canal, and we hosted a Picnic Clean Yoga to show we can be more sustainable when eating out or hosting bbqs.
What has the response been?
Victoria: After our first event there was a lot of people who were shocked at the amount of plastic and waste we collected. The second event we had even more people and our next event has gained even more interest. It’s wonderful to see so many people caring about the community and wanting to do their bit to make Nottingham, their homes and the world a cleaner and greener place.
Hannah: We’ve had so much positive feedback which has been amazing, so many people from different walks of life are wanting to get involved, from students to retired people.
How would you like Clean Yoga to progress?
Hannah: As long as we are making a difference to the environment and wildlife, I’ll be happy. I can’t wait to watch our Clean Yoga community expand even more than it already has in such a short space of time. Taking the concept outside of Nottingham and further afield is something we both can’t wait to do, and we have some exciting plans coming up.
When is the next Clean Yoga event?
Victoria: Our next event is our Summer Clean Yoga on 18th of August. Following this we will doing a day retreat to the Peak District in November so watch this space, tickets will be available soon.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Victoria: These sessions are available to everyone, even people who do not like yoga can feel free to come along to our events, which last about 75 minutes. Join in with likeminded green people and get some inspiration on what we can do day to day to make this world a nicer place for our future generations.
The next Clean Yoga event takes place at the Arboretum on Saturday 18 August. The event is free to attend, and you can find more information here.
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