The second annual Monumental Yoga event, organized by the Athenaeum Foundation, brought together yoga enthusiasts and newbies from across Indiana in celebration of the summer solstice. Cassie Stockamp, president of the Foundation, created the annual event last year after being inspired by photographs of a similar mass yoga class in Times Square.

"I kept dropping hints until it happened," recalls the yoga instructor. "My motivation was to create a free open class to bring Indianapolis's yoga community together."

"In yoga, the physical takes you to the mental," explains Stockamp, describing the practice as a holistic experience.

Regardless of their relationship or experience with yoga, the summer solstice found yogis of all ages and levels engaged in a community-wide yoga class in the heart of Indiana.

Traveling all the way from Muncie, yogis Kari Ann and Angie, both relatively new to the yoga scene with only about two years experience between the two of them, came with a few others from their class after prompting from their teacher's Facebook posting.

"We do yoga for the serenity," says Kari Ann. "It's much easier than we thought."

"Yoga is so accepting of everyone," adds Angie. "And today is just us sharing yoga with a bunch of like-minded people."

Of the activities offered, some were certainly more strenuous than others. Hula hoopers Brooke and Alli demonstrated another way to practice yoga, dancing and moving with the hoops, inviting children and adults alike to join them.

"I teach a hoop-yoga fusion class," says Alli, who started yoga when pregnant. "The hoops can help isolate the body and assist with positioning."

Brooke, though new to yoga, has been hooping for 4 years, describing it as more of a social activity. "My best friend and I did it together, and it just got popular fast," she says.

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Monumental Yoga to strengthen community

HEAT up your exercise routine this winter with hot yoga, a practice with multiple benefits for the body and mind.

Hot yoga classes take place in a heated room and are based on the yogic concept of tapas - to cleanse with heat or burn away impurities.

Zama Yoga Toowoomba instructor Deb Goulding said the style softened the muscles and warmed the spine, enabling participants to relax more.

"The body's response to the heat is to perspire, releasing toxins and to get the organs working," she said.

"Hot yoga is also really good for people with an overactive mind. It's about focusing on the one thing at the one time and slowing down the mind."

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Her advice for staying motivated in the cold was to "grab the keys, a bottle of water, some stretchy pants and just come".

"There is no end to the practice of yoga. It's like the work of a scholar."

She encouraged beginners not to be afraid of trying something new.

"We have students who say I can't go to yoga I'm not flexible, but that's like saying I can't get a house cleaner my house is too dirty."

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Hot yoga burns away those impurities