Namaste in shape with this High Desert yoga studio, now offering free yoga on community hikes

One of the only yoga studios in the High Desert area, Love Roots Yoga Shala, is introducing a new community hiking program to their regimen before the winter forces them back inside.

The five-year-old Wrightwood studio is now offering free community yoga and a mindfulness hike through various Wrightwood trails like Big Horn Mine and Inspiration Point.

The first hike was last Saturday, July 20 at Grassy Hollow along Highway 2. The group started with a mindful meditation session before their one-mile hike around the visitor center and ended with an easy, 45-minute gentle flow to cool down afterward.

Spearheaded by two of the six yoga co-op owners Mallory Riess and Genevieve Lourenco, the community effort had a good turnout on their first all-inclusive hike. Residents from both Wrightwood and Phelan showed up for the free event, made new friends, and started the morning off on the right, tree pose foot.

"I decided to start the hiking initiative to help foster more connection in our community," Riess told the Daily Press. "This way, High Desert residents can both connect with nature and experience the healing benefits of yoga."

The yogis would also like to extend a health-conscious invitation to members of the greater High Desert area as well.

For High Desert residents more interested in keeping up with their yoga practice than hiking, Love Roots Yoga Shala offers weekly classes including hatha, vinyasa, gentle, yin, restorative, and chair yoga. Classes are typically offered once in the morning and once in the evening at the Wrightwood studio.

There are three hiking/ yoga sessions left in the series. Bring your hiking shoes and a yoga mat if interested and sign up here .

• 4 p.m. August 11, Vincent's Cabin
• 4 p.m. September 14, Inspiration Point
• 2 p.m. October 5, Big Horn Mine

McKenna Mobley is a Daily Press reporter and can be reached at mmobley@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Namaste in shape with this High Desert yoga studio, now offering free yoga on community hikes