The Women’s Athletic Network with Tracy Higginbotham trying Snowga in the Pines with Yoga Revolution.

Green grass covered my lawn as I left for the latest sports adventure, a year in the making. But as my car crested the hilly landscape an hour from my home, a winter wonderland of tall pines, crystal-falling snowflakes, and frosty-covered rocks appeared magically before my eyes. As one person described it, “Coming into the park was like arriving in Narnia.”

Everyone has heard of yoga, and perhaps even Hot Yoga or Goat Yoga, differing forms of the ancient holistic practice. Still, I was finally trying Snowga (snow yoga) for the first time after being told about it by a woman who heard about it. Growing up as a skier, nature lover, and an all-season sportsgirl, it sounded perfect. But I had to wait one full year to try it since I had just missed the annual event by one day in 2023.

After the cloudiest winter on record, the brilliant robin-blue sky illuminated the forest of tall pines with pure white snow adding the trimmings. Five women were joining me on the adventure taught by the same yoga instructor who taught us Stand Up Paddle Board Yoga on a hot August day. 30 people in total made a circle in a haven of tall pine trees to begin the session. The air was still and the snow sparkling as it lightly drifted down from the pine branches high above us. We were cozy, not cold, and in awe of this pristine setting.

Lynne Boucher of Rochester’s Yoga Revolution

As we moved gently through typical standing yoga poses, we also did some tree poses – so appropriate for our location. At one point, we did what our teacher Lynn called “The Wave” as we moved individually, like dominos, in a circle as the person in front of us or behind us moved their arms and changed positions. Peaceful and in unity, men and women of differing ages and backgrounds moved as one in nature.

Halfway through the one-hour event, we were told to walk silently through the nature center to think about an intention. It wasn’t a few steps into the silent walk, with the sun shining on my face and the “sparkles” from the sun hitting the snowflakes, that I felt my friend Teresa talking to me from heaven. I believe she was actually walking with me since this was something she would have loved to do if she was still alive. It wasn’t a sad walk with her but a joyful one with her smiling and me asking her, “Are you having fun in heaven?

Joining the group again, I shared my memory of walking with her and discovering a “Troll Bridge” covering one of the shimmering streams on the property. The extra touch of childhood glee finding it, made me think of Teresa even more. I could hear us laughing together as we searched for the troll under the bridge. My yoga mates laughed as I told them the story

.Sometimes you find ripples, sparkles, and reminders of people you love when you are in solitude. Other times you discover unity and camaraderie in unexpected places like in a circle of other humans in the pines. And if you are lucky, you get to spend time with the people you cherish, like the women who joined me on this adventure, reminding me that you are never truly alone, even if you are in the forest in February.