Brookside Gardens yoga class shifts to Japanese Tea House this summer

Brookside Gardens shifted its seasonal yoga series into the Japanese Tea House for the warm-weather months, turning a simple class listing into something more tied to place. The class, led by Tanory Ateek, is designed to build flexibility, physical strength and mental focus, but the setting now does part of the work too, with the garden itself shaping how the hour feels.

Montgomery Parks lists Yoga at Brookside Gardens as a recurring seasonal program, with sessions held at the Visitor Center from March through April and moved to the Japanese Tea House from May through August. That change matters at Brookside Gardens, Montgomery County’s 50-acre public display garden within Wheaton Regional Park, because the site is not being used as a neutral backdrop. The calendar follows the landscape, and the venue shift gives the class a quieter, more immersive rhythm than a standard indoor studio.

The practical details are clear for anyone planning to attend. Mats are not included, so participants have to bring their own. Some Brookside yoga listings also cap attendance at 20 people and say no walk-ins are accepted, a sign that the program is structured more like a small community class than an open gym drop-in. For a garden session, that tighter format helps preserve the calm that the space is built to create.

Brookside’s wellness menu points to a broader institutional push behind the class. Montgomery Parks describes Strolls for Well-Being as an evidence-based program that promotes emotional healing through connection to nature. Participants in that program finished with more positive emotions, fewer negative emotions and increased motivation to grow and change. The yoga series fits neatly into that same framework, where movement, attention and landscape reinforce one another.

The garden also uses its grounds for more than fitness. Montgomery Parks says Brookside offers onsite programs and online learning experiences in horticulture, sustainable gardening, floral and landscape design and botanical arts. A related wellness retreat led by Tanory Ateek, which includes gentle yoga, walking meditation, seated meditation and labyrinth work, shows that the instructor is already part of Brookside’s broader wellness identity. At Brookside Gardens, yoga is not just another class on the calendar. It is one more way the site uses its setting to define the experience.