Park Yoga gains popularity across the Black Country

Park Yoga figures for the Black Country have revealed an increase in average weekly attendances compared to last year, showing growing demand for accessible opportunities to be active outdoors.

Working with Park Yoga and the four local authorities, Active Black Country helped facilitate sessions for the 20-week programme. There were a total of 2,708 attendances across the parks hosting yoga - Priory Park, Dudley, Sandwell’s West Smethwick Park, Walsall Arboretum, Walsall’s Palfrey Park (a new addition this year), and East Park in Wolverhampton.

Across the five venues, average weekly attendances were around 35 per session (compared to 21 in 2025; 24 in 2024). Walsall Arboretum was the most popular, with more than 65 people regularly attending weekly sessions – and a high of 105 one week.

“We have grown together! Every year has seen new faces and old faces. It’s just amazing to do yoga in the park open space. Nothing like it,” said Debo Sahota, a yoga instructor who ran sessions at East Park, which included the participation of people with Parkinson’s disease and new mums with babies.

“It’s been great and it should never stop as people need it. Beyond physical health, community yoga plays a vital role in mental well-being.”

Park Yoga is a national charity that provides free yoga sessions in green spaces every Sunday morning from May to September across the country. The Black Country programme welcomed people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities.

Community benefits

The success of the 2026 programme has been driven by a combination of growing local awareness, encouraging and friendly instructors, and ongoing community engagement. Promoting the sessions within local communities has also helped more people discover Park Yoga and experience the benefits of being active in welcoming outdoor spaces.

Despite joining the programme later, both Dudley’s Priory Park and Palfrey Park in Walsall made a strong contribution, attracting excellent numbers and helping even more people experience the benefits of Park Yoga in their local area.

Overall, the programme had a positive impact across the Black Country, encouraging residents to be more active, connect with others, and improve their physical and mental wellbeing in local green spaces.

The programme’s success is important as the latest Active Lives data from Sport England shows that the Black Country remains the region with the highest levels of inactivity, at 34.9%, which is well above the England average of 24.7%.

There is still work to be done to help more people become active, but Park Yoga is a great example of how free community activities can help people across the region move more and spend more time in nature.

This also reflects what Active Black Country has learned through recent community engagement forums and action planning workshops held across Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton. By listening to local partners and communities, we have gained a better understanding of what supports people to be physically active. Green and outdoor spaces emerged as the most popular places for people to move more and be active. Park Yoga responds to this by providing free and accessible sessions that help more people make the most of their local parks and open spaces – removing financial barriers that might otherwise prevent people from being active.

A huge thank you to our local authority partners, local delivery partners and instructors for helping to make Park Yoga such a success across the Black Country. Their support in raising awareness, engaging local communities and creating welcoming spaces has helped more people enjoy the benefits of moving more and being active outdoors.

To keep updated on future sessions, check out the Park Yoga website here: https://parkyoga.co/