DESTIN —Rhonda Comparin walked barefoot among the 13 women lying supine on the floor of the pavilion at James Lee Park.
Their eyes were closed, their breathing was slow and even.
“This is where we put it all together,” Comparin said quietly. “The nervous system calms.”
Comparin, who owns Destin Yoga, was wrapping up one of her power yoga classes that have come to be a regular sight at the beachside park.
The petite blonde has taught yoga there for years and recently was granted a $500 beach vendor license by Okaloosa County for her efforts.
View a photo gallery from the class.
“I’m official!” Comparin said. “I’ve pretty much had Tuesday and Thursday for nine years. The key is consistency.”
From the pavilion, students have an unobstructed view of the sugar white sand and blue water of the Gulf of Mexico.
“It’s a beautiful place to practice yoga,” said Dorothy Robinson, who has been a student of Comparin’s for about 10 years. “Now it’s just hard to practice anywhere else.”
Nancy Gontarek agreed.
“Yoga’s about breath, and sometimes studios don’t smell very good,” she said. “Here we have the breeze and the sun. We get to look at God’s finger painting.”
Comparin said Destin is fast becoming known as a beach yoga hotspot.
“People come here for beach yoga,” she said. “I get lots of tourists. I have a whole snowbird crowd. Each winter I get my regular customers back.”
She offers her classes free to lifeguards and firefighters because “it’s their beach.”
Destin’s shoreline has a way of relaxing students even before class begins.
“It’s wonderful,” she said. “Sometimes we’ll match breaths with the waves.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Kari C. Barlow at 850-315-4438 or kbarlow@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KariBnwfdn.
