With the new 3,268 square foot Mind Body Studio in the University’s UREC, students and other participants will have the opportunity to experience and practice yoga in new ways.
This semester, the UREC is offering Yoga Workshop classes to help participants focus on certain yoga practices. There are four classes – Crow, Meditation 101, Pranayama, Hand Stands – which people can take to learn how to build up to these practices or to perfect them. Fitness and Wellness Assistant Director Jennifer Mills said these workshops will give “yogis,” or regular yoga participants, something different and specific to delve into.
“Yes, we have UREC, and yes, we have yoga classes, but now that we have a designated space for mind/body classes, we are really able to expand what we offer in that space,” Mills said.
Fitness and Wellness Coordinator Melissa Mapson said the workshop participants do not have to be masters in yoga because the workshops allow everyone to work at their own level and pace. The goal of the class is to perfect or build up to something new instead of practice several different poses.
“In a normal yoga class,you go through a flow,” Mapson said. “The instructor will set the tone of the class and go through different poses, but there’s not necessarily one thing that they focus on per say in the class. Each instructor will teach a little bit differently. In the workshops, there’s one focus.”
Mills said the Crow workshop was a way to break down a challenging pose. Mapson said the workshops last about an hour and usually have one or two instructors to assist and give individual attention to the participants. Mapson said while the classes focus on one aspect, the skills learned in the workshops will help participants in other parts of yoga.
“Our first one was a crow workshop, so it was just on how to get into a crow and how to progress from a crow,” Mapson said. “Basically how to work at your own level in that one position and how that one position relates to other flows and everything else.”
In addition to these Yoga Workshops, the University’s UREC also offers a Yoga Retreat. Mills said the Yoga Retreat on March 4 will be an all-day event. Attendees will participate in guided meditation, practice several different kinds of yoga and break off into workshop type classes where they can focus on certain poses or inversions, which are poses where the heart is above the head. The retreat will end with a guided discussion and lunch will be provided.
“The yoga retreat will be kind of like a day getaway,” Mills said.
Another yoga event the UREC offers is Paddleboard Yoga. Mapson said the Fitness and Wellness Center teams up with the Adventure Education of the UREC for this event. Participants will have the opportunity to practice yoga on a paddleboard at the Baton Rouge Beach on March 30.
All events can be signed up for online at the UREC’s website.
