Happenings Ireland in partnership with the James Joyce Centre is proud to present "Breathe and Bloom" as part of the Bloomsday Festival. The event is a truly unique Bloomsday celebration of health, wellness, and yoga (yes, really!) on Sunday, June 16th 11am-1:30pm at Brighton Square.

James Joyce was born in 1882 at 41 Brighton Square. What better way to celebrate Bloomsday than by gathering where it all began! Breathe and Bloom is a unique blend of traditional Bloomsday celebrations and wellness exercises. Ulysses is not often thought about in terms of health and fitness but the novel provides a glimpse into the burgeoning wellness movement that would develop extensively in the 20th century. Leopold Bloom is conscious of his body and the need to maintain it through exercise and diet, even if he is not so vigilant in doing so! "Got up wrong side of the bed," he thinks to himself. "Must begin again those Sandow’s exercises." His wife, Molly, also has this on her mind: "I must do a few breathing exercises[.] I wonder is that antifat any good might overdo it." The event will show this often-overlooked facet of Joyce's work by combining Yoga in the Park's class with a talk about health and fitness in Joyce's work as well as old-fashioned readings and songs!

The event will start with Yoga in the Park's regularly-scheduled class with Jo Collins from 11am to 12pm. It will then be followed by a half-hour talk about fitness, wellness and Joyce by Dr. Conor Heffernan, Lecturer in the Sociology of Sport at Ulster University. This talk will feature demonstrations of gentle stretching, dumbbell raising and deep breathing. Audience participation is encouraged but not mandatory. After the talk, the park will host music and readings of Ulysses. The audience is welcome to bring food and drink to make a nice picnic!

Schedule: 11-12: Happenings Yoga's Yoga in the Park class with Jo Collins 12-12:30: Talk and yoga demonstration by Dr. Conor Heffernan and Jo Collins about fitness, mindfullness, and yoga in Ulysses 12:30-1:30: Music and readings

The Yoga in the Park class is €10. Dr. Heffernan's talk and the music and readings are free to the public. Come enjoy an afternoon of yoga, mindfulness and fun in what is a Bloomsday Festival first!

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Fáilte Ireland, and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.