For three years, Amy Baack has been teaching free outdoor yoga classes every week at Sunset Cliffs Nature Park in San Diego.
But last Wednesday, she arrived for her 6 p.m. class to find three park ranger trucks parked on the cliffs. Some of his students, visibly upset and in tears, were talking to the rangers. Because of a new ordinance passed in March, rangers said, community gatherings of four or more people that could be considered a business were no longer allowed in Sunset Cliffs.
Baack had worked with park rangers in the past, who allowed him and other yoga teachers to run donation-based classes as long as they included fewer than 50 people and didn’t use no amplified sound.
“It’s definitely not where I do my business,” said Baack, who also offers private yoga and meditation classes for a fee. “It’s more about community and creating a sense of collective here in San Diego because we recruit people from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds.”
Amy Baack, formerly, leads a yoga class at Sunset Cliffs Nature Park in San Diego in February.
(Courtesy of Amy Baack)
The ordinance specifies parks where people can hold yoga and fitness classes, as well as other activities, if they obtain a permit, but Sunset Cliffs is not one of them.
Jackie Kowalik also had to cancel the free class she has been teaching at Sunset Cliffs since 2017. Some of her students who were unaware of the new order still showed up last week, only to be greeted by guards at the park.
“It’s about our community,” she said. “I think a lot of people think it’s two yoga teachers who are angry. You are taking away joy, comfort and access to safe mental health without consulting citizens.
Kowalik, who teaches paid classes at fitness studios, said he has heard about soccer games and volleyball tournaments being closed. She and some of the other yoga teachers in the community hope to apply for a license to teach at Sunset Cliffs. They contacted their customers and asked them to let the city know how the free donation works. yoga classes helped them.
“I know these classes mean a lot to people,” she said. “The stories people tell about coming out of depression, the moms bringing their families and kids, the broke college students and unemployed people who can’t afford to take a class at a studio.”
Night begins to fall during a yoga class at Sunset Cliffs Nature Park in San Diego.
(Courtesy of Amy Baack)
Caleb Olsen, a city spokesperson, said in an email that while many people have expressed opposition to the ordinance online, there is also support from people who use the park, live in the area or are against “unauthorized commercial activities on city property.” .”
Barbara Keiller, chairwoman of the Sunset Cliffs Nature Park board, said there were some concerns about the safety of people attending yoga and fitness classes, particularly in the cliff area. Because it is long, narrow and susceptible to erosion, she explained, there is a risk that the ground will collapse and people will fall and die.
Keiller said the courses leave less parking space and block part of the California Coastal Trail.
“We realize it is inappropriate to have 50 people on the edge of a narrow cliff, blocking passage for other people,” she said.
Keiller herself has participated in outdoor yoga classes and called the activity “very important.”
“There are safe places for people to do it,” she added.
Kowalik and the other instructors spoke with a civil rights attorney and contacted city officials, who agreed to meet with them. In the meantime, Kowalik rented a private room for her Sunday class and said she would continue to do it out of her own pocket.
“I’m just trying to teach a yoga class for the community, I’m not trying to make waves,” she added.
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