2008 Woodie Awards
Yoga
Your way to a healthier life
Laura Hagen
Issue date: 11/14/07 Section: Health
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Last semester I took HPR 105 and during the course you have to participate in a handful of physical activities. One of these is yoga. When I first heard I had to do yoga, I thought "Great, I get to look like an idiot and meditate on something for 45 minutes."
Much to my surprise, it was rather enjoyable. It was the most relaxing class period that I've ever had while in college and also incredibly hard. As an athlete and someone who strength trains and exercises regularly, I was amazed at how many muscles it worked through such simple movements and no weights. It definitely made me realize how many muscles I actually don't work on. This combination of strength training, breathing exercises, core work and relaxation techniques make it worthwhile and is very beneficial to your overall health and wellness.
The benefits of yoga are countless but a few that are important to your overall health for the rest of your life are a decrease in blood pressure, normalizing your weight, increase cardiovascular and respiratory efficiency, improving posture and raising your energy level. Along with the physical benefits, yoga can produce many psychological benefits as well. For example: your mood can improve, you can become less hostile, anxiety and depression can decrease and your concentration can improve.
And don't think that yoga is just for women, men also benefit from this form of exercise. As Colin Earl states, "I naturally lack flexibility and yoga improves this drastically. It's also a great full body workout and if I'm stressed out and do yoga, I feel like a million bucks afterward!"
In addition, combining weight training and yoga for men can produce better results than just weight training alone. Yoga can also help men get more in tune with their inner self, positively affecting their relationships and interactions. So guys next time you and your girl get into a fight - go to a yoga class and then see how you feel ;)
Yoga can be intimidating and many of the position names are weird, like the "Lotus," "Downward Dog," and the "Plow," and are difficult to do the first time, but as my HPR yoga instructor proved, they can be mastered. Yoga provides an alternative to traditional exercise that gets you fit and helps you mentally. So, if you're looking for a way to revamp your exercise routine or prefer not to run around a track and then go do push-ups, head to the Rec and sign up for a yoga class - you won't regret it!
Much to my surprise, it was rather enjoyable. It was the most relaxing class period that I've ever had while in college and also incredibly hard. As an athlete and someone who strength trains and exercises regularly, I was amazed at how many muscles it worked through such simple movements and no weights. It definitely made me realize how many muscles I actually don't work on. This combination of strength training, breathing exercises, core work and relaxation techniques make it worthwhile and is very beneficial to your overall health and wellness.
The benefits of yoga are countless but a few that are important to your overall health for the rest of your life are a decrease in blood pressure, normalizing your weight, increase cardiovascular and respiratory efficiency, improving posture and raising your energy level. Along with the physical benefits, yoga can produce many psychological benefits as well. For example: your mood can improve, you can become less hostile, anxiety and depression can decrease and your concentration can improve.
And don't think that yoga is just for women, men also benefit from this form of exercise. As Colin Earl states, "I naturally lack flexibility and yoga improves this drastically. It's also a great full body workout and if I'm stressed out and do yoga, I feel like a million bucks afterward!"
In addition, combining weight training and yoga for men can produce better results than just weight training alone. Yoga can also help men get more in tune with their inner self, positively affecting their relationships and interactions. So guys next time you and your girl get into a fight - go to a yoga class and then see how you feel ;)
Yoga can be intimidating and many of the position names are weird, like the "Lotus," "Downward Dog," and the "Plow," and are difficult to do the first time, but as my HPR yoga instructor proved, they can be mastered. Yoga provides an alternative to traditional exercise that gets you fit and helps you mentally. So, if you're looking for a way to revamp your exercise routine or prefer not to run around a track and then go do push-ups, head to the Rec and sign up for a yoga class - you won't regret it!
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