Flash mob bends between Ballantine and Woodburn

24 spandex-clad yogis stalled road traffic between Woodburn and Ballantine halls at 11:04 a.m. on Monday.

As the post-class rush of students stopped to gape, the yogis bent into downward-facing dog on the cold concrete.

“What is this?” a passerby asked, motioning toward the stretching men and women.

“I think it’s a flash mob,” another responded, snapping pictures on his iPhone. “A yoga flash mob.”

The group, whose members maintained eight synchronized poses for 15 seconds each, followed the lead of Sujal Patel, an IU senior and instructor at local studio Know Yoga Know Peace.

It’s about fun, he said. Flash mobbers signed up through his classes and Facebook. More than 100 people clicked “Going” on the event page, but the morning snow significantly reduced turnout.

“It’s a beautiful thing, being able to do yoga anywhere,” Patel said after the performance, which lasted about four minutes. “But the drivers were less concerned about safety than we were. One van was inches away from running over my hand!”

— danpaque@indiana.edu