While most people walk or bike the new Alfred J. Lima Quequechan River Trail, the newly-created park is also an ideal location for other events. On August 24, 2016, Yoga Instructor Jessica Drolec of Studio Life Art invited children and adults to learn some basic yoga exercises along the Quequechan River in Britland Park. Jessica took participants through basic breathing exercises and then through several stretches and poses designed to relax the body and restore energy. The project is part of a larger effort to introduce people to the new Trail and the adjoining Britland Park in collaboration with City's Mass in Motion Project. Other events have been planned for the park throughout the months of August and September. The Trail created a bicycle and walking path that runs over a former railroad bed to connect with Britland Park and Rodman Street. Funded by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and by the Gateway City Park Program of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, the trail will eventually open up nearly two miles of a natural habitat right in the middle of some of the lowest income sections of the City. Click here for a 14-minute video of the yoga event. Click here for an art event that took place simultaneously. For more information about Mass in Motion Fall River, contact Coordinator Julie Kelly at 508-324-2405  For more information about walks in the City, go to www.WalkFallRiver.org. 

(Top row rows) Louisa Tavares stands next to the sign at the entrance to Britland Park and the new Alfred J. Lima Quequechan River Trail where Yoga Instructor Jessica Drolec welcomes participants and invites them to begin with a breathing exercise. (Rows three four and five) Jessica takes the group through a series of exercises and poses designed to increase flexibility, strength and balance. (Bottom row) Jessica ends the session with the classic "tree" pose that reminds people of their connection to the natural world that they see all around them and the earth that supports them.