This occasional series explores summer fitness opportunities in the St. Louis area.

The yoga mats are spread out carefully. Shoes and socks lie alongside. Participants inhale, then let their breath out simultaneously, emitting a soft hum.

Fold forward, says instructor Sat Inder Singh Khalsa. Breathe into the movement.

Khalsa is dressed in flip flops and a tank top, which reveals a tattoo on his right shoulder. He is wearing oversized rings on several of his fingers.

And hes miked up.

He needs help projecting his voice because almost 250 people are participating in the class. The light buzz of commerce from the neighboring Tower Grove Farmers Market hangs over the group, which includes at least five dogs and a baby napping in a pumpkin seat.

But everyone is concentrated on yoga on this breezy, overcast morning.

Khalsa leads the class through the asanas, or poses, that comprise ashtanga yoga.

Ashtanga is a more vigorous type of yoga, with a set sequence of postures, one leading into the next.

Three women, all wearing fitted black capris and using pink mats, lower themselves into a plank position, holding their core muscles tight and then pushing up on their arms into an upward dog pose. Then they push up farther, straightening their legs and backs, and transform into the triangle shape of a downward-facing dog.

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Yoga class gets flexible with its St. Louis surroundings