Mystic, CT (January 30, 2018) — Mystic Seaport is proud to offer Yoga in the Pingo in its new exhibition, Murmur: Arctic Realities with world renowned yoga instructor Coral Brown.
The first class will be at 8:30 a.m., Saturday Feb. 10. The second class will be at 5 p.m., Saturday, March 3. Each vinyasa class (suitable for all-levels) is 75 minutes. Tickets are $18 for members and $20 for non-members. Mystic Seaport general admission is not required to attend the yoga class. Pre-registration is required due to limited space, call 860.572.5331 or visit http://bit.ly/PingoYoga.
Murmur: Arctic Realities is a huge kinetic sculpture created by contemporary artist John Grade. Using salvaged Alaskan yellow cedar, Grade has created an intricately carved sculpture (15’ x 38’ x 42’) that represents a pingo, a hill of ice that grows over centuries in the Arctic’s highest latitudes, then collapses, pockmarking the tundra. The steel spines that support the sculpture rise up above it. The 12 spines move up and down to mimic the life cycle of a pingo.
“Yoga in museums and galleries has become very popular, and we regularly have requests and suggestions from visitors that we hold yoga classes on our beautiful property,” said Arlene Marcionette, public programs project manager for Mystic Seaport. “So when we were getting ready to open Murmur, with the way the sculpture not only embodies an element of the natural world, but also moves, we thought yoga in the Murmur gallery was a perfect fit.”
Brown, who makes her home in Rhode Island, is a licensed mental health counselor who draws on her extensive experience in yoga, philosophy, and holistic counseling to provide fertile, open space for the process of healing and transformation. She is a senior Prana Vinyasa Flow teacher and has also trained in the Iyengar and Jivamukti methods. She leads teacher trainings as well as retreats and workshops worldwide.
She also grew up in Alaska.
“I lived in a community called Bird Creek, a peaceful, off-the-grid commune that my parents and some friends founded,” Brown said. “My parents lived off the land in a very simple way, with a mindful, yogic-like life philosophy, which in the 1970’s was known as being a hippie. When my parents separated I moved to Rhode Island with my mother, but I would go back to Alaska frequently to see my father.”
This will be Brown’s first time leading a class in a museum gallery, and she loves the idea of a sculpture of a landscape as the focus of the room. “It’s pretty phenomenal,” she said. “It’s great to bring the outdoors indoors. For centuries, Yogis have explored the mind, body and the deeper mysteries of life by going out into nature where there are no distractions. A naturally inspired, peaceful environment encourages us to foster the relationship between human nature and nature itself.”
About Mystic Seaport
Mystic Seaport is the nation’s leading maritime museum. Founded in 1929, the Museum is home to four National Historic Landmark vessels, including the Charles W. Morgan, America’s oldest commercial ship and the last wooden whaleship in the world. The Museum’s collection of more than two million artifacts includes more than 500 historic vessels and one of the largest collections of maritime photography in the country. The Thompson Exhibition Building provides a state-of-the-art gallery to host compelling, world-class exhibitions, including Murmur: Arctic Realities, which opened January 20, 2018. The Collections Research Center at Mystic Seaport provides scholars and researchers from around the world access to the Museum’s renowned archives. Mystic Seaport is located one mile south of Exit 90 off I-95 in Mystic, CT. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/ and follow Mystic Seaport on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
