Mega-Yoga Solstice Eve Event Returns To Westchester

From the The Mental Health Association of Westchester: Westchester’s popular outdoor mega-yoga event returns this June! The Mental Health Association of Westchester is pleased to announce that Get On Your Mat For Mental Health will take place on Wednesday, June 20th under the open sky on Court Street in downtown White Plains. This energetic and empowering community event features an hour-long open level yoga class led by renowned teacher Sarah Platt-Finger and raises vital funding and awareness for mental health issues and services.

Hailed as “one of the world’s most inspiring mega-yoga events” by Well + Good, Get On Your Mat For Mental Health kicks off at 5:30 PM with check-in and registration. Attendees can enjoy live music by guitar teacher, musician and composer David Robles while perusing a yoga marketplace and sponsor exhibitors. Attendees can strike their favorite yoga pose in a photobooth and take part in a social media awareness campaign, telling the world why they believe #MentalHealthMatters.

At 6:30 PM, hundreds of attendees of all ages and levels will get on their mats for the class led by Sarah Platt-Finger, the private yoga teacher of Deepak Chopra and co-founder of ISHTA Yoga with her husband, Yoga Master Alan Finger. “Yoga is often referred to as a physical practice, but it is just as much a practice for the mind as it is for the body,” said Platt-Finger. “In fact, the ancient traditions of yoga see these two as being inextricably linked. When we experience yoga we experience embodiment of all that is available to us in the present moment—images, thoughts, sensations, and feelings— and we merge them into one unified state of consciousness."

“The Mental Health Association of Westchester knows how important it is to take care of not only one’s physical health, but mental health as well. The practice of yoga and mindfulness can be effective tools for decreasing symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression,” said Charlotte Ostman, MHA’s CEO. “Get On Your Mat For Mental Health is an exciting community event that raises awareness and encourages open conversations about mental health issues, critical steps in erasing stigma. We are incredibly grateful for the support of the City of White Plains in this initiative!”

White Plains Mayor Thomas Roach will take the stage to welcome the crowd, as well as Westchester County’s Deputy Commissioner of Mental Health Joseph Glazer.

Get On Your Mat For Mental Health is suitable for all ages and levels. The first 125 registrants will receive a complimentary yoga tank top courtesy of White Plains Hospital. For more information and to register, visit www.mhawestchester.org. Pre-registration is $30; children under 12 can register at the “little yogi” rate of $15.

Sponsors of this event include TD Bank; New York Sports Medicine Institute; Natural Awakenings; 100.7 WHUD Radio; WAG Magazine; Westchester County Business Journal; and Wee Westchester.

Photo by Dina Sciortino