The sunset provides a colorful background for yoga on the beach at the Seagate club. Jan Engoren/The Coastal Star
By Jan Engoren
With Van Morrison’s Moondance setting the tone, Delray Beach yoga instructor Corey Heyman welcomed her Full Moon class of yogis and yoginis to the Seagate Beach Club with dabs of essential oil — either full moon or grounding.
About 25 people, mostly women, got towels and Fiji water (courtesy of the Seagate) and laid down their yoga mats in the sand — with the ocean and anticipated full moon in front and the sun and anticipated sunset in back.
Class began with a 10-minute meditation and gentle stretching followed by “not too many chaturangas,” due to the uneven surface of the sand.
Madeline Burger, Seagate’s director of wellness and fitness, said the genesis of yoga on the beach grew out of the coronavirus pandemic when the club recognized a need for stress reduction and mental health wellness.
“We wanted to create a sanctuary for people to come, move, breathe and connect,” she says, “and to create a sense of community. Corey is a key player in the wellness community here in Delray Beach and we, and her students, love having her here.”
The 60-minute, vinyasa flow class is open to the public and includes a lunar meditation, moon salutations and yoga poses, followed by a moonlight savasana.
Heyman, 32, founded and runs the Coco Market — a wellness-centered event — the first Sunday of every month at Old School Square.
“I’m grateful to have this platform in which to shine and build more community,” she says. “By offering their space, members and services to the public at large, the Seagate Beach Club has elevated this experience for anyone who is interested.”
She says finding yoga has connected her more to her body and to her spirit.
“Yoga allows me to feel something greater — more of a spiritual element,” Heyman says. “It has made me stronger, and the stillness has given me a sense of peace.”
Heyman, who formerly worked in the substance abuse community, took a yoga class with her dad in 2019 and says, “I realized this was meant for me. It was divine intervention. I found peace I never had.”
She completed her teacher training during the pandemic, and her parents were her first clients.
At the Seagate, Heyman times her lunar yoga classes so attendees can see the sun setting in one pose and the moon rising in the next.
Two of her devotees are Gina Oriend, 48, who works in hospitality management in Delray Beach, and Joy Rico, 70, a retired dermatologist.
Oriend, who has a background in dance and gymnastics, says she was searching for yoga on the beach when she met Heyman.
“Corey has an inviting aura about her and a calming presence,” she says. “She has come into her own through yoga. Her classes are low-key and not intimidating and she is good at what she does.”
Rico, a member of the Seagate Country Club, says the yoga classes are one of the best reasons to join the club.
She especially likes being outdoors and witnessing nature. “Even if you just sit on your towel and breathe, you are doing yoga,” she says.
Rico credits Heyman for creating a welcoming event.
“Corey is respectful of her students, a great leader with a positive outlook.
“Here and with Coco Market, she created a community of beautiful, like-minded people. She’s a thoughtful and creative person, working to better her community.”
Namaste.
If You Go
What: Full-moon yoga
Where: Seagate Beach Club, 401 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach
When: 6:30 p.m. March 24, 7 p.m. April 23 and May 22
Cost: $20
Info: seagatedelray.com/events; 561-330-3775
Outdoor yoga
Yoga at the Beach, through Boca Raton Community Center: full moon yoga classes, sunset yoga classes and workout yoga at Red Reef Park East and West. yoga-at-the-beach.com; 561-393-7807
Leslie Glickman and Yoga Journey: Yoga in the Park, 9 a.m. Saturdays at Sanborn Square in Boca Raton. yogajourney.com; 561-479-7819
Bamboo Garden Yoga: 88 SE Fourth Ave., Delray Beach. Registration required. 561-665-1770; bamboogardenyoga.com
Wild Sky Yoga with Sara: Beach yoga at the south end of Delray Beach, 8:30-9:30 a.m. Thursdays, from November to May. 561-305-4952
Jan Engoren writes about health and healthy living. Send column ideas to jengoren@hotmail.com.
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