Galleries have historically been thought of as neutral spaces to observe art, designed to present works in a controlled environment that invites intellectual reflection with their white walls and stark lighting.

Now, White Bear Center for the Arts is bringing back a different way to engage with art: through mind and body. This December, the art center invites you to elevate your midday break with Yoga in the Gallery, a five-week yoga series taught by Shaila Cunningham against the backdrop of the Members’ Exhibition in the Ford Family Gallery.

Yoga in the Gallery began over a decade ago at WBCA when it was still housed in the White Bear Lake Armory, and followed when the art center made its move to Long Avenue. But its origins begin much farther away, in the 90s when Shaila lived in Singapore.

Taking classes in a traditional yoga class with a teacher who was a Zen Buddhist in Singapore was a very different experience from the yoga culture in the United States, so when she moved back to Massachusetts, she became the bridge between the two. Shaila began studying under a Swami or Yoga Master at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health and finished her teacher training before she moved back to teach in Minnesota in 2001.

About a decade ago, WBCA approached Shaila about teaching in their space, “What a great and unusual opportunity,” she thought of teaching in an art center. “I wanted to be around creative people open to that mindset.”

She insists that her teaching style was influenced by being surrounded by art classes at WBCA all those years ago. “It’s like if you were in a still life class, the teacher would be walking around working with students individually. If you were to look over the shoulder of those students, you would see all different interpretations of the same thing, that’s how a real yoga class should run.” In guiding the practice, Shaila honors each person’s unique body shape and fitness level so that they feel their way into a pose, as opposed to trying to force it to look right.

As a certified Kripalu teacher, Shaila’s approach promotes not only strength and flexibility but also cognition and prevention through something she calls “fall rehersal.” Shaila says that one of the greatest threats to aging people is suffering from a fall, “there’s research that shows your ability to get up and down from the floor is connected to your longevity.” To combat that, Shaila works with poses that help people maintain agility in terms of moving through their environment.

“Practicing yoga in the gallery allows us to connect with the art in a more meaningful way as we find our own center,” says WBCA Creative Services Director Sara Nephew. “It’s also a chance to build community in a space where art and reflection meet — a powerful combination for inspiring personal growth and social change.”

That speaks to the mission of WBCA, and Shaila recognizes it too, “there’s always been this kinetic energy that ran through [the building] and it had a sense that really worthwhile, interesting things were happening there,” she says.

Join us for Yoga in the Gallery on Tuesdays from 12:00-1:15 PM starting December 3, 2024-January 14, 2025. Register at WhiteBearArts.org.