Yoga and music and wellness om my!

The inaugural Lehigh Valley Yoga Festival on July 26 presents a full day and evening of mindful experiences for the body and spirit at the Nurture Nature Center in Easton.

The festival represents a coming together of the Lehigh Valley's fast-growing yoga community and showcases the expertise of 40 presenters representing many different fields.

This synthesis sprang from a simple Facebook post by Jo-Ann Temple-Hindon, a yoga and meditation instructor. "I put up the simple status: 'Lehigh Valley Yoga Festival 2014. Anybody with me?' It turned out a lot of people were in favor of that. The response was overwhelming."

Temple-Hindon says the goal was to "keep everything as local as possible and spotlight all the different schools and teachers in the Valley and bring them all together for a celebration of yoga."

The festival is for newbies and experienced practicioners, adults and children. Attendees can sample different styles of yoga to find "what they're most comfortable with. Then they can seek that out after the festival," says Temple-Hindon. For example, beginners looking to address stress, anxiety or insomnia might target "Restorative Yoga," and thrill seekers can bring a partner to try the dynamic "Acro Yoga: Learning to Fly" class.

The event launches at 10 a.m. with an Opening Prayer of Harmony led by festival board members Hindon, Alicia Rambo Wozniak, Prahba Sinha and Deva Vidya. It concludes with a concert by Sean Johnson & the Wild Lotus Band, a world music trio based in New Orleans. The group merges ancient mantras with rock, funk, gospel and world grooves. Wozniak, owner of Easton Yoga, says that tickets to concerts by the group, which headlines regularly at nationwide and international music and yoga events, typically sell for as much as or more than the festival's general admission price of $50.

Between these events, there's a diverse array of workshops, lectures, musical performances and, of course, yoga classes in a variety of styles and difficulties. In "Quiet Heart Yoga: The Secret of Breath-Raja Yoga" you will explore the simple act of breathing. "Balance for 55 and Better" demonstrates that the flexibility of a Russian gymnast is not a requirement. Already a yoga enthusiast? Then rev things on the mat with an energizing "Firecracker Flow" class. A Kids Yoga Space delivers child-friendly presentations that include "Family Laughter Yoga" and "Teen Yoga."

In fact, getting kids involved in yoga is at the heart of the festival, which is presented under the auspices of the Pratyush Sinha Foundation. This nonprofit organization, founded by Sinha in 2012, brings the benefits of yoga to at-risk youth in the Allentown School District, Boys and Girls Clubs, The Caring Place and other area locations. Proceeds from the festival will help continue and expand these programs.

"The goal of yoga, whether for kids or adults, is the same: It brings balance to our inner minds. It's all about the mind. But, of course, we use physical postures to kind of get our mind into place. With kids, we need to engage them in a way that's interesting and makes the yoga postures seem like a game," Sinha says. "Even little kids feel a lot of stress, from family, from peer pressure. After a class I always ask what they get from doing yoga, and they say, 'I feel more relaxed, I feel calm.' The next time they're upset they can focus on their breath to calm their mind down." (For more info visit http://www.pratyushsinhafoundation.org.)

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Om Easton gets zen with yoga fest