On a bustling 25th Street in Oakland's Uptown District, a group of people gathered in front of a storefront gallery and witnessed an innovative window display.

Wearing a yoga top and Capri pants, her body glistening with painted designs, Jillian Bobowicz moved fluidly from a Downward Dog yoga pose to a Warrior Two. From the corner of her eye she saw a little girl shriek with delight and heard her say "One of the mannequins just moved!"

Remaining poised despite the onlookers, Bobowicz said she balanced her body and mind amid the flurry of activity during Oakland's Art Murmur that Friday evening.

"The distractions were there but you use that challenge as a tool to concentrate and remain calm," she said.

Bobowicz and fellow yogis displayed yoga poses as performance art in the storefront window of the 25th Street Collective, a vintage warehouse -- tucked away among a row of car repair shops between Telegraph and Broadway -- where local artists create and showcase their work.

That first Friday of April officially launched "Yoga for Artists," an event organized by Bobowicz, her sister Chelsea and Walnut Creek artist Jenna Mitchell to give artists space to heal as well as gain inspiration to create works of art.

"For me, yoga is my art. It really comes down to practicing yoga as a form of personal expression," said Bobowicz, a Walnut Creek resident. "Yoga has provided an infinite source of wisdom from within."

As

While many artists boast the therapeutic benefits of creating art, as a yoga teacher, Bobowicz was concerned about the repetitive stress that plagues artists as they work.

"Jewelers can hammer over and over again, painters use their hands and wrists to do brush strokes, and writers crouch at their desks and type -- stress that builds up on important parts of the body can become a block so the creative force can't flow through," Bobowicz said. "We want to keep these body parts open and healthy. I see this as occupational therapy for artists."

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Using yoga to clear out creative block