Yoga for All
When Arlet Koseian-Beckham, owner and founder of extendYoga in North Bethesda, looked around the wellness world in 2021, she saw a community that didn’t reflect the diverse population of folks who lived near her studio. With inclusivity in mind, the first-generation Armenian, 42, and employees Ayanna Wells (pictured above), 37, a Black woman, and Zahra Abbassi, 40, a Muslim woman, came up with the Repped Inclusive Yoga Series. A community is chosen to be the focus of a month of Sunday afternoon yoga sessions led by a teacher from that community, plus there’s representation in the art on the walls and the products in the boutique. September will be Latinx month, with three classes in Spanish and a trip to the Latin American Film Festival at AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring. October will be a warrior series with trauma-informed yoga, sessions for breast cancer survivors and a session for those living with addiction.
12106 Wilkins Ave., North Bethesda, 301-881-3330, extendyoga.com
Great Wall
There’s so much to take in when looking at “Wheaton Lives,” a mural completed in June on the side of Elbe’s Beer & Wine store, that your eye may not know where to go first. Start at the right side, above the store entrance, and “read” to the left, moving through time from past to present. A Native American village, 18th-century European settlers, the founders of Elbe’s back when it was a neighborhood grocery store, a youth kicking a soccer ball, a present-day woman cooking pupusas—these images and more make up a tapestry of Wheaton life. The mural was painted by Baltimore artist Bridget Cimino, 42, who says she “wanted to create a piece with lots of color and movement.” Her favorite touches: the plowmen and their horses, and the Piscataway village.
2522 University Blvd. W., Wheaton, wheatonartsparade.org/elbesmural
Fall for this
To the mix of pumpkin spice lattes, harvest ales, apple fritters and other quintessential fall faves, we add the apple cider doughnut sundae at Jimmie Cone in Damascus. It starts with an apple cider doughnut from Gaver Farm in Mt. Airy, Maryland. Piled on is soft-serve vanilla ice cream drizzled with hot caramel sauce. To top it off: whipped cream and a cherry, of course. Look for this year’s sundaes to hit the iconic ice cream shop around mid-September, and you can expect prices close to last year’s $8 or a little more.
26420 Ridge Road, Damascus, 301-253-2003, jimmiecone.com
Naturally Fun
The best way to get out of a playground rut? Discover a spot with new things to explore. Beeline to the Nature Play Space at Woodend Nature Sanctuary in Chevy Chase for a water feature that’s activated by kid power, a group of boulders to scale, a slide encased in a wooden wood thrush (seen in the photo here) and a “bird nest” climbing structure made of giant logs. Opened in the fall of 2023, the play space is meant for kids up to age 10 and is designed to be accessible to all. It includes a small parking lot nearby, a pair of bathrooms with composting toilets (no water or chemicals), a water bottle filling station and a changing table stall. Keep the exploration going by trekking around some of the trails on the 40-acre property and checking out the gardens, meadows and pond.
8940 Jones Mill Road, Chevy Chase, 301-652-9188, natureforward.org
Stretch Out Summer
We’re not ready to say goodbye to days spent cooling off at the pool. With county-run outdoor pools (and many private ones) closing right after Labor Day, it’s a good time to splash the day away at the new indoor Silver Spring Recreation and Aquatic Center. Open year-round, it has the only county-run aquatic climbing wall. Climbers move untethered up the 10-foot rock wall, which means that falling into the water (from the top or on the way up) is part of the fun. The aquatic center, which opened in February in downtown Silver Spring, also has lap lanes, two hot tubs, diving boards, water-dumping buckets and a couple of slides. See the website for prices and the schedule; the climbing wall is open during rec swim. Look for metered parking on the street or in the garage at 8700 Cameron St.
1319 Apple Ave., Silver Spring, 240-777-6900, montgomerycountymd.gov