Relax, ease the mind and interact with museum exhibits at artful yoga classes. Artful yoga uses a current exhibit to inspire the theme of the session.

Each session is a different theme, depending on the exhibit on display. The last one was held at the Christian Petersen room in Morrill Hall on Feb. 11.

The classes are a combination of a healthy and artful experience. Nora Hudson, a student leader from recreational services, led the classes.

“When yoga comes into the gym it has shifted its focus from self enrichment … into more of a competition,” Hudson said.

This class is aiming toward the broader aspect of yoga and how yoga is more than just a workout. The exhibit is currently displaying the work of Gwynn Murrill’s animal sculptures, so the class will focus on group interaction and animal-like posture.

“We focused the practice [held in January] on … cat, cow posture, pigeon …and eagle posture,” said Nancy Girard, University Museums program coordinator.

“There’s a new twist where they are integrating the artwork with the practice of yoga,” said Laura Merrick, agronomy lecturer and artful yoga participant.

In previous artful yoga sessions, the artwork was not incorporated into the yoga practice. This semester, the artwork and philosophy of the program is explained before each session.

“I’ve done yoga for a long time and the things I like about yoga are very similar to the things that I like about art,” Girard said

Girard spoke about how each exhibit will influence each session. The next exhibit is all about lasers and lights, and the class will focus more on space and how that impacts yoga practice.

“Artful yoga is a collaborative relationship between recreational services and university museums,” Hudson said.

The program started in the spring of 2012 with outdoor classes around the pieces of art all around campus. When the program first began there were classes two times per month, but because of the museums exhibit schedule this semester the classes have been cut back to once per month.

Artful yoga starts at 5:15 p.m. Wednesdays to discuss the philosophy of the yoga practice and will move into the “creative exploration” of working with the artwork.

The program asks that attendees to bring their own yoga mat and reserve a spot via email prior to the start of class. Besides artful yoga, recreational services offer many other fitness yoga classes inside State Gym, Lied Recreation Athletic Center and Beyer Hall.