Unroll your yoga mats at CalNAM for a multi-sensory mindfulness experience

Your weekly dose of local news, arts, and culture. Our News Wire newsletter lands every Thursday with the stories shaping Northern Santa Barbara County

SEND ME THE HEADLINES!

Trees and mountains come in many forms at Solvang’s California Nature Art Museum (CalNAM). Paintings. Photographs. Yoga poses.

Unlike the various artworks that occupy the museum’s walls, Santa Ynez-based yoga instructor Lori Shirran’s new program takes up the two-story venue’s floorspace.

“Right now we’re in the upper gallery. Depending on the number of participants—when we get over eight participants, we go to the downstairs gallery,” Shirran told the Sun.

The 15-person limit requires students of Shirran’s ongoing summer series, Yoga in the Galleries (Tuesday mornings, from 9 to 10 a.m., through July 29), to reserve their spots in advance. Entry is $10, and attendees are asked to bring their own yoga mats.

Participants of these beginner-friendly classes get the privilege of stepping into the museum (open Thursday through Monday) on one of the days it’s closed to regular visitors—when CalNAM’s resident giant, wooden troll named Lulu usually has the place to herself.

Lulu’s size and stature makes the museum’s tower gallery an unlikely candidate for additional yoga floorspace during potential future classes, Shirran explained.

“We want there to be enough space for everybody to kind of spread out,” Shirran said with a laugh. “That’s a small room.” 

An avid hiker and travel enthusiast, Shirran has hosted outdoor and indoor yoga classes, both inside and outside of the U.S., throughout her 20-year career. But the CalNAM program marks her first time leading sessions in an art gallery.

Shirran currently teaches yoga at the SHiFT Studio and Stuart C. Gildred Family YMCA, both in Santa Ynez. One of her longtime students is Rachel Metz, assistant director at CalNAM.

“She asked me how I would feel teaching in the gallery,” said Shirran, who jumped at the chance to pair yoga with the kind of nature-centric art the museum is best known for.

“My vision for this project comes from a Zen mindfulness practice that I was exposed to while living and studying in Japan. The concept is wabi-sabi,” Shirran explained. “Wabi-sabi is a way of life that promotes mindfulness, simplicity, and a deeper connection with nature and the present moment.”

Shirran’s goal to “bring the outdoors in” during her indoor CalNAM classes correlates with the transportative and scenic vistas currently on display at the museum.

“In the gallery, we’re surrounded by nature-inspired art. For example, there’s one right now on Yosemite,” Shirran said. “The images surrounding us during our practice are all from Yosemite.”

The photography exhibit Shirran referenced was Yosemite: Sanctuary in Stone, on display at CalNAM through Aug. 31. The solo show opened in March and features more than 40 pieces that prolific nature and landscape photographer William Neill captured in Yosemite over the course of more than four decades.

“There are some beautiful photographs of waterfalls,” Shirran said. “It’s absolutely beautiful and calming. It’s wonderful to be able to reflect and meditate on nature. 

“I also bring in other nature elements,” the yoga instructor added.

Sounds of flowing water and birds chirping have amplified a few immersive installations at CalNAM over the years. Shirran’s program is the museum’s newest offering to follow that tradition.

Along with ambient audio clips, yoga participants can also look forward to hearing poetry during the classes. 

“I often incorporate readings into my yoga classes,” said Shirran, whose favorite nature poems to recite were written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Mary Oliver (1935-2019).

When it comes to her selective recitals, Shirran said she’ll usually settle her students “into a pose, and if there’s a poem that’s applicable, let’s say when we’re doing a tree or mountain pose, then I may pull one out relating to a tree or a mountain.” Shirran also incorporates aromas into her classes at CalNAM, offering her students samples of scented oils during yoga sessions. 

“Some people are sensitive toward aromas, so there’s the option for them to avoid it,” she explained. “Basically I’ll say, ‘Keep your right palm facing up if you want a drop of the oil, turn your palm down if you don’t.’”

Highlight

• Santa Barbara Humane is hosting an open house program at its Santa Maria campus on Saturday, July 19, from noon to 3 p.m. The event will include guided tours of the shelter, the chance for guests to meet adoptable animals, a giveaway of gently used pet supplies (collars, leashes, toys, and more), light refreshments, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the nonprofit’s new mobile veterinary unit.

Reach Senior Staff Writer Caleb Wiseblood at cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.

This article appears in Jul 17-27, 2025.