Yoga in the Park returns to Gardner with expanded teaching team

Yoga in the Park is returning to Gardner with a bigger teaching bench, turning Denise Cerrati’s weekly class into a broader community offering at Park Street Park. The free, donation-based series will begin Monday, June 8, run every Monday through August from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., and send every dollar collected to various Gardner nonprofit organizations.

Cerrati established Yoga in the Park in 2022, and the 2026 series will mark its fifth season. This summer, she will share teaching duties with four other certified yoga instructors, a change that should give the program more range from week to week while making it easier for more residents to find a class that fits their comfort level and schedule. The class is billed as all-levels, and participants are asked to bring their own mat or yoga props.

The setting remains part of the appeal. Classes will be held at Park Street Park, 53 Park St., near Gardner Elks Lodge #1426 at 31 Park Street, weather permitting. The city’s calendar has described the program as a Monday evening fixture in June, July and August, and the move to Park Street Park, which began in 2024, gave the outdoor class a more visible home next to the Elks lodge.

That public-facing location has helped Yoga in the Park grow beyond a simple recurring workout. Earlier sessions were held in Monument Park, where the city’s outdoor yoga offerings first took shape, and the series has steadily evolved from Cerrati’s solo effort into a more organized rotation of teachers. The addition of four certified instructors points to a class that has outgrown its original format without losing the low-barrier appeal that made it work in the first place.

For Gardner, that means a summer yoga hour that stays easy to show up for and easier to keep going. The class remains free, open to all levels and tied directly to local nonprofits, the kind of park program that can welcome first-timers, regular practitioners and neighbors who want their Monday night practice to feel rooted in the city around them.