In the middle of a session of yoga near the gazebo at Edgewood Park, Timothy Smith joined the group of 15 in a series of side body stretches. He’d been in a car accident years before that had wrenched his neck, he said later. He had never before tried yoga. This was Yoga In Our City, which off ers classes in Connecticut city parks at no cost to participants of all shapes, sizes, and walks of life; where, on hot days, it’s literally “free hot yoga,” as class regular Alyssa Pudill put it; where tree poses are struck under trees; and ambient sounds of rustling leaves and twittering birds mingle with squealing sirens and revving engines. In addition to Edgewood, New Haven classes take place in Scantlebury and East Rock parks from late May to October. The program began in 2012. Founder Thomas Clynch was running a yoga studio when, to drum up business, he offered a free class in Hartford’s Bushnell Park. “We saw 70 people show up,” he recalled. “It was way more popular than the studio itself.” It showed him the value, he said, “of moving yoga from being a luxury commodity to being a matter of community engagement.” The City of Hartford signed on to help with funding, then ConnectiCare. “They saw the program as aligning directly with their mission,” Clynch said — specifically, to improve the health of Connecticut residents through accessible, community-focused wellness initiatives. That support has helped expand the program to other Connecticut cities, including Bridgeport, Waterbury, and New Haven. “It peaked during the pandemic,” said Yizza Galdamez, Yoga in Our City managing director and a bilingual instructor. “Everyone was going outdoors and a lot of yoga studios shut down.” Galdamez was introduced to yoga about a decade ago when a friend brought her to a class. For the Hartford native, raised in a household with parents who were first-generation Salvadoran immigrants, the idea of self-care, of regulated breathing, of healing through movement, was a foreign concept. “They came here to work hard and make a life for our family, and that’s what I knew,” she said. “It was a lot of ‘push, push, push,’ not a lot of rest.” Right away she took to it. “It was a difficult time in my life,” she said, and along with the physical benefits, “I just felt supported, like I was part of a community.” She also felt a pull to share what she was learning. “There are a lot of misconceptions about yoga in the Latino community, like you have to be flexible, and thin, and you have to have the right clothes, and all that gets in the way,” she said.      Galdamez started yoga teacher training five years later, seeking, she said, “to create spaces where people of different backgrounds, identities, abilities, and body types can see themselves.” To make the practice more welcoming and accessible, she’s helped establish the Yoga In Our City practice of offering bilingual classes when needed, and eschewing registration and strict start times. “Maybe you only have those 15 minutes at the end of class because you’re getting out of work,” she said. “Maybe you only have time for one pose. Maybe you have to bring your child. Just be here.” That’s precisely the beauty of the program for Zechara Golden, who was leading Tuesday’s class in Edgewood Park. Golden, who’s been practicing yoga for five years, is a graduate of Yoga In Our City’s Happy Warrior Program. The 200-hour trauma-sensitive yoga teacher training course, which is supported by the YWCA Hartford region, emphasizes the use of yoga as a tool for healing, equity, and social justice “in the spaces that need it most,” as the Yoga In Our City website reads. “Let your gaze follow the palm as we look up into the sky,” Golden intoned, as she swept up one arm, the class following her lead, amid the aroma of freshly mown grass, the thud of a basketball on a nearby court, and a gentle breeze under the soft mid-August sunlight. “We usually go to the gym, and this is so much nicer than being in a gym,” said Megan Fitzsimmons, a Westville regular, after Golden sounded her Wave sound tool, signaling the end of the session. Her friend and class regular Pudill agreed. “It makes you feel so good, so relaxed,” she said. “Did you see the clouds moving?” Vince Schultz asked another participant. A researcher at the Yale School of Medicine, he said he’s been attending Yoga In Our City classes for years. “It’s a nice way to end the day, being outside and in a beautiful place,” he said.   Nearby, Golden was rolling up her mat. “I really like that I have to improvise,” said the New Haven resident, a singer and jazz bassist who studies psychology at the University of Connecticut. “You never know who’s gonna be in your class, and then I get to figure out a way to help them meet their needs.” She spotted Timothy Smith, the first-timer, under the gazebo. “See you next week?” she asked. He shrugged. “I’ll try,” he said. “That’s great,” she rejoined, smiling. “We’re here ’til October.” Tree pose under the trees. Knee-to-chest pose at Tuesday evening’s Yoga In Our City class at Edgewood Park. 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