On the Mall, a Flock of Yogis

A yoga class on the Mall will be part an event Saturday marking the centennial of the Freer Gallery of Art. (Getty Images)

It's a bit of a stretch: 1,000 people doing yoga on the Mall.

But such an event is the brainchild of James Gordon, public affairs director for the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. "I'm not a yoga aficionado, but [I] recognize that yoga is a popular form of exercise and relaxation," he says. In association with D.C. Yoga Week and Flow Yoga Center, Gordon has planned an hour-long yoga class on the Mall as part of "Sunrise to Moonrise: A Centennial Celebration." The day-long festival Saturday honors the 100th anniversary of Charles Lang Freer's gift of his art collection to the American people.

A railroad car magnate from Detroit, Freer amassed art from all over Asia, including Indian manuscripts, Chinese bronzes and Japanese screens. His collection became the core of the Freer Gallery, which, with the Sackler, makes up the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art.

Reflecting the breadth of cultures represented in the galleries, "Sunrise to Moonrise" will include martial arts demonstrations, concerts of sacred music and Indian American jazz, saké tasting and a comedy showcase. The yoga session will get things going, starting promptly at 8 a.m. at Jefferson Drive and 12th Street, directly across from the Freer.

Gordon hopes to attract 1,000 yogis. Thinking that would be worthy of a listing in Guinness World Records, he applied for possible inclusion in the famous reference book. "Guinness gives you the okay to go for it," he says, but "they let you know what record you have to break -- and the record is 30,000 in India!"

Nonetheless, Gordon will have a photographer at the ready in a cherry picker. "Once we get our critical mass," he says, "we'll take a big 'family photo' " and later count the people in the picture. "I think we have a good shot at getting a thousand, that's for sure."

"Oh, I think we'll have more than that," said John Schumacher, founder and director of Unity Woods Yoga Center, which has several studios around Washington. Schumacher teaches Iyengar yoga, which emphasizes alignment and balancing strength and flexibility. At Saturday's event, he will lead a series of standing asanas -- Sanskrit for poses -- rather than have participants sit or stretch on the ground. One of the easiest asanas is Mountain Pose, in which you stand tall, feet hip-width apart and arms at your sides. From there, you can swoop into Proud Warrior Pose by spreading your legs and lunging to one side, arms outstretched, to create a stance that is strong and graceful.

Several instructors will be onstage with Schumacher to demonstrate different levels of poses. Additional instructors will be scattered throughout the audience to offer guidance to newcomers and regular practitioners. "We're apt to have people who have 30 years of experience . . . and people who just happen to be walking down the sidewalk and say, 'Hey cool, what's going on over there?!' " Schumacher says.

Leading a class of a thousand sounds intimidating, but Schumacher isn't worried. "I've taught groups of up to 800 before," he says. "And it is really beautiful to see that many people all in the same position. There's a visual cohesiveness that is almost like watching a huge flock of geese take off."

A large crowd practicing yoga also inspires a certain spiritual unity. "The whole process of the shared experience with everyone else is a way to wake up to the fact that we're all connected to one another," Schumacher says. "And that is really at the heart of yoga."

Gordon says he hopes the yoga class will draw attention to the museum, which will open early Saturday, at 8 a.m.

SUNRISE TO MOONRISE: A CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION "Yoga on the Mall," 12th Street and Jefferson Drive, across from the Freer Gallery. Saturday 8 to 9. If it rains, the yoga class will be canceled. Other festival activities include tai chi workshops, martial arts demonstrations, gallery tours, concerts of sacred music and Indian American jazz, Asian games, lotus-flower handcrafts, saké tasting and comedy showcase. Festival from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 12th Street and Independence Avenue (Metro: Smithsonian). All activities are free. 202-633-4880.http://www.asia.si.edu.