By Suriel Chavez |Staff Writer|
Yoga has been known to help relieve stress and benefit people, so the CSUSB Rec Center offers a Group Exercise Yoga class as another way to better the lives of the students.
Yoga is taught by instructor Wenyu in the morning at 6:30a.m. every Monday and Wednesday on the second floor of the Rec Center.
Yoga is a system of exercise for attaining bodily or mental control and well-being.
Yoga is also good for an active lifestyle, such benefits include flexibility, physical exercise, breath control and mental focus.
Yoga can also be an active recovery workout by helping to repair muscle fibers and increase blood flow to muscles. Doing yoga can help you start hitting the weights sooner.
Yoga instructor Wenyu has been doing yoga for more than five years and has good experience teaching yoga classes, even teaching in China.
Yoga has a “what you feel comfortable” policy, meaning only do what feels best for you and do as much as you need to.
The class is filled with a variety of people, from athletes to beginners and students to faculty members. The class is for everyone.
The class was structured for everyone to be able to learn and participate without judgement of others.
Everyone starts off on their own level and progresses differently.
If you feel nervous about not knowing the movements, that is okay, as oral instructions are given as well as a demonstration. Also, the instructor will help you place your body in the right position.
Yoga class focuses on flexibility, strength, balance, enhancing the core muscles and creating functional movement for everyday life.
Every class is an hour long and it begins with a slow warm up that demonstrates all the movements that will be included in the workout.
As the class progresses, so do the movements. They become more intense and the muscles are stretched and activated to strengthen them.
There are various breaks that help you relax and remind you to take deep breaths.
Yoga is about stretching as much as it is breathing. Taking deep breaths is very important in the class, so do not forget.
Attending this class was very beneficial to me, as an important part of yoga is to focus on being there and not somewhere else in your mind. Focusing on the movements helped me relieve stress and will help you too.
In the end, as a cool down, we were instructed to take the corpse pose, also known as Shavasana. Corpse pose is simple and relaxing, as you lay on the floor with your body stretched out for as long as possible.
The pose lasts for about 10 to 15 minutes and focuses on breathing. You will begin to feel your body relax and feel like you are laying on a cloud.
“Walking out of yoga is always my favorite part,” said Sarah Jaquez, a participant of the class. “You feel so rejuvenated, like a whole new person.”
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