‘Green yoga’ happens twice a week

Janie Mahaffey, right, leads her students in yoga poses at Quail Ridge Golf Course. Following her lead are Kathy Parry (front), Teresa Uriarte (middle), and Carol Glaser (far left). Behind Uriarte is Britta Yates and Fawn Robertson.(Baker City Herald/Lisa Britton)

But look across the green expanse and you’ll see a line of walkers, each carrying a rolled up yoga mat instead of golf clubs.

Every Tuesday and Thursday morning, Janie Mahaffey and her yoga students meet at 6:30 a.m. at the clubhouse to begin the half-mile walk out to Hole No. 12.

This is the most remote putting green at Quail Ridge, a bright green circle surrounded by sagebrush that sits high above the rest of the course.

A posted sign reads “Green closed 4 yoga.”

Mahaffey teaches in the style of hatha yoga. The group goes through the poses — with an emphasis on breathing and stretching — for 30 to 35 minutes, then packs up. They return to the clubhouse around 7:30 a.m.

“It’s refreshing,” Kathy Parry said after a recent session.

“On top of the hill, on top of the world, watching the sun,” said Teresa Uriarte.

The cost is by donation, which goes to the junior golf program at Quail Ridge.

Mahaffey will continue this “green yoga” through August, at 6:30 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Everyone is welcome.