2015 is a new year and everyone is extremely health conscious as they are trying to maintain their New Year’s resolutions. Between the constant exercising and healthy eating, everyone is working hard to reach that ideal body they see in magazines. But what most people don’t know is that a healthy body also requires a healthy mind. It’s hard to balance a healthy mind with a busy stressful life. However, it can easily done by doing one simple thing: yoga! Yoga is the perfect combination of mind, body, and spirit that promotes an all around healthy lifestyle.
Many people have this opinion on yoga that it’s just stretching, only for people who are flexible and not a workout, but they’re wrong! Although much of yoga is about stretching out the body, you also have to sync your breathing with your movements. When you do this, your mind is focused on your breaths and you can easily clear your head and relax. The stretches warm up your body and allow you to increase your flexibility. In order to do yoga, you do not have to be flexible whatsoever! Yoga is a practice and each time you step on your mat you are just practicing to get better and better, which is why flexibility is not necessary for beginners! Every pose has different variations ranging from easy to difficult that work with yogis of all levels.
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Yoga is also a full body workout! It’s a mix of cardio, stretching, balancing, and you even use your own body weight to build muscle. A typical yoga sequence starts out with an initial relaxation pose often done seated or laying down, then you move into sun salutations, which incorporate the warrior poses. After that it’s up to the instructor to do other poses such as balancing poses or core work, and then you end the class lying on your mat in savasana, which is a meditation pose. The purpose of yoga is the loosen up your body while also connecting with your breathing to sooth your mind and relax yourself.
While many people really do not believe that yoga is a workout, it’s probably because they have never taken a class before! There are many different classes you can take, as well! Most classes can be taken by anyone, beginners or experienced yogis, but there are many classes dedicated to specific things such as hot or bikram yoga, yin yoga, vinyasa flow yoga, power yoga, and beginner yoga. Each class offers different benefits for the body physically as well as mentally. My personal favorite would be hot yoga classes!
FSU offers many different classes as well, ranging from basic vinyasa yoga, beginning yoga, power yoga, and yoga-pilates fusion. Each instructor is a certified yoga teacher as well as a student at FSU. The classes are offered at The Leach center, the FMC, and occasionally at the FSU reservation. You can often find people out on Landis Green practicing as well as a few instructors who will lead spontaneous classes for anyone willing to participate! If you aren’t fully convinced yet, check out one of the free classes offered at FSU or visit a local yoga studio and try it out for yourself! Happy practicing and Namaste!
FSU’s Group Fitness Schedule: Yoga classes are in green and purple