Aspiring Yogi – Kayla Gaw

How has your first year experience been?

For the most part, good. I’m pretty good at handling stress, so the transition has been fine. Being pretty adaptable definitely helped with adjusting to the new environment and level of academics. And the workload definitely is time-consuming, it’s hard, but not bad hard, it’s challenging. I’ve never been pushed to work in this sort of environment, so it’s not necessarily a negative type of challenging.

Pretty individual learning.

Did you get enough academic support?

I’m a fairly individual learner, so I didn’t go to office hours much or ask for help too often. The few times I did have questions, they were answered properly.  The TAs are super welcoming and make it much less intimidating to ask for help, especially compared to going to a professor in a 300-people lecture.

Did you have opportunities to get involved outside of class?

It wasn’t so much that there weren’t many opportunities to get involved, but rather that the only opportunities for involvement were for student government, and for people not necessarily interested in that type of involvement, there wasn’t much else that was well-advertised and easily accessible. Intramurals weren’t super well-advertised either, so I didn’t really know about them until after the season was over.

I think it’d be nice to have some more casual type of extracurricular activities available for students – things like old movie clubs, pottery classes, not always student parliament or government-type activities, especially for first-year students. 

Was it easy to maintain a good physical wellbeing in first year?

There’s often too much work to do, so even if you want to go to the gym or take some type to relax, a lot of the time you’re too tired and you just want to sleep.

Why do you like yoga/how did you get started with yoga?

Used to dance. Yoga studio 5 min away from where I lived, super accessible. You could work in exchange for classes. Certified to assist yoga classes. A super nice community. Here there’s no yoga studio super close that has classes that fit into my schedule. If there was a yoga studio on Charles or even at Vic, then I would’ve gone. It’s also the community I’d already built

Do you think yoga and physical wellbeing helps with academic wellbeing?

Yes. Yoga is not just physical, it’s mind body and soul. From the joint experience of the intense physical activity, and community, and mental relaxation, and sense of satisfaction. And the mental state that yoga allows you to be in helps with overall mental and physical wellbeing.

The are’s several things, for example breathing techniques that promote positive energy. The Shakras, which a lot of people think are silly, but whether or not you believe in it, there are tangible positive effects to doing yoga. Sometimes a certain twist or stretch can release pent-up energy, to the point that someone can start crying, not from pain, but from releasing all that energy. So I 100% believe it helps.

What could be done to promote yoga at UofT?

Offering more frequent studio schedules to fit into a busy university student’s schedule.

How would you like to expand on or grow in your yoga-pursuits?

I would love to teach classes, or at least do the training to further yoga practice. I’d also like to get more of my friends into it. I don’t know how many people I brought into yoga at the studio, just through friends and family.

What do you want to do with your life?

Travel, bring a positive influence into other people’s lives, make other people feel good about themselves. And have fun. Want to make other people happy.

Any advice for students who want to start yoga but may not have the time or commitment to go to a studio?

Do yoga  in your own room. Start listening to podcasts or videos that are available online, start with small time commitments and build your way up.