Centered Outdoors Marks 10th Season With Outdoor Yoga and Wellness Programs

Centered Outdoors is entering its 10th season with a message that reaches well beyond the yoga mat: wellness can be free, outdoors and open to almost anyone. ClearWater Conservancy’s 2026 schedule, announced April 8, opens the season the week of April 12 at Dry Hollow and includes an outdoor yoga Wellness Program at Stone Valley Recreation Area as part of a lineup built around hiking, recreation and public access.

The yoga offering is one of the clearest signs of how the program has grown over a decade. What started in 2017 as ClearWater Conservancy’s signature outdoor engagement effort has become a broader community platform, with guided hikes, wellness sessions and conservation education tied to Central Pennsylvania’s public lands and waterways. ClearWater said the 2025 season was its ninth, making 2026 a milestone year for the program.

Most Centered Outdoors programming runs from April through June and again from September through November, a deliberate move to avoid midsummer heat. Guided Outings are designed as short walks of one to two miles for all ages and experience levels, while Adventure Hikes serve people looking for a tougher trek. Wellness Wednesday programs widen the lane even further, mixing mindfulness practices, forest therapy, art and other wellness-centered activities.

At Stone Valley Recreation Area, the outdoor yoga component is not just a side activity. ClearWater’s wellness programming there has included sessions that blend yoga with qigong, sound healing, breath work, guided meditation and self-applied massage, with all ability levels welcome. That matters in a community where many yoga offerings still center on studio membership and repeated class attendance. Here, the frame is different: show up outside, borrow what you need and take part.

The program’s practical support reflects that same philosophy. Centered Outdoors offers a free gear library with trekking poles, child carriers, daypacks and rain jackets, and children can borrow a Jr. Naturalist Toolkit at check-in before Guided Outings. All events are free and open to the public, which makes the program especially accessible for families, beginners and people who may be priced out of conventional fitness classes.

ClearWater says the initiative is meant to connect community members and visitors to the land and waterways of Central Pennsylvania, and that getting outside is good for mind, body, spirit and conservation because it builds a love of place. Mount Nittany Health, the Hamer Foundation, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Happy Valley Adventure Bureau and the M&T Charitable Foundation support the program, alongside partners including Appalachian Outdoors, Centre Region Parks and Recreation, Cole Transportation, Jana Marie Foundation, Millbrook Marsh Nature Center, Organic Climbing, Rhoneymeade Arboretum and Sculpture Garden, Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center, Spring Creek Chapter of Trout Unlimited and Webster’s Bookstore & Cafe. After 10 seasons, Centered Outdoors is no longer just a schedule of events. It has become a local model for how yoga can live outside the studio and into the public square.