Field of ... yoga? Fans flock to the mats after L.A. Dodgers game

Brian Farrell, left, participates in a yoga class lead by Mia Togo from Yogaworks after the Dodgers game on May 17, 2015 at Dodger Stadium, in Los Angeles. The yoga class was 30 minutes long, and the field was filled with participants.Read moreFrancine Orr/Los Angeles Times/TNS

by Mary MacVean, Los Angeles Times, McClatchy-Tribune

Published May 27, 2015, 11:08 a.m. ET

LOS ANGELES — If there's a chance to go down to the field after a Dodgers game, you might expect it would be to shag some balls or run the bases. But in this case, hundreds of people rolled out Dodger blue yoga mats for a little warrior pose and cobra.

"It was really a beautiful thing," said Mia Togo, a master yoga teacher who led all those people in a half-hour class on Sunday, May 17, after the Rockies lost to the Dodgers, 1-0. "That's one of the reasons I teach yoga — it builds community and connection. That's the point of bringing yoga to Dodger Stadium."

Participants bought game tickets that also included the yoga mat and class after the game. Togo estimated 850 participants; the Dodgers said the total was close to 1,000.

Togo called it "surreal" to see so many people practicing yoga at once — more than 10 times the number in her most popular classes at YogaWorks, where she teaches students and teachers-in-training. She had help: Twenty assistants worked the crowd, including Chara Law, who was shown on the big screen for people to follow along.

Togo said she geared the class for all ages and abilities in hopes of getting some new practitioners. "It's not just for people who are really athletic. It's finding the right level, the right teacher. We wanted to give everyone a taste."

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