Yoga provides benefits for the body and soul
From left, Jarol DeVoge, instructor Julie Booth, Ana Stasia Takach and Mary Ann Bazzoli exercise in the Gentle Yoga class at the Cameron Wellness Center in South Strabane Township.
Instructor Julie Booth meditates with lights low as the Gentle Yoga class at Cameron Wellness Center concludes.
Participants in the Gentle Yoga class at the Cameron Wellness Center in South Strabane Township relax with lights low as they conclude their session.
Candy Radel is almost 60, but when she participates in the Gentle Yoga class at the Wilfred R. Cameron Wellness Center, she’s more flexible than the 20-year-old woman working out on the mat next to her. Radel, who struggled with lower back problems and was involved in an automobile accident several years ago, credits yoga for her increased flexibility and good health.
Yoga techniques have been practiced for more than 5,000 years, according to the American Yoga Association’s website, and the practice is built on three main structures: exercise, breathing, and meditation. Yoga probably arrived in the United States in the late 1800s, according to the AYA, but it did not become popular until the 1960s. As more people learned about the beneficial effects of yoga, it gained acceptance and respect as a means of impoving one’s health and well-being. Many physicians now recommend yoga practice to patients at risk for heart disease as well as those with back pain, arthritis, depression, and other chronic conditions, the website indicates.
“(It’s) not a religion,” yoga instructor Donna Grote, of the Wilfred R. Cameron Wellness Center, said. “It’s a practice based on Indian tradition.”
Grote started doing yoga when she realized it give her “me time” away from the hectic schedule of being a working mom. It also helped her keep in check some of her chronic back pain.
The health benefits of yoga are many, according to Grote: stress reduction, lengthening of muscles, and increased flexibility are among them. All of the benefits are intertwined physically, emotionally and spiritually.
Jessica Pieper, a group exercise supervisor and clinical exercise physiologist, said yoga is really beneficial for daily living – even just reaching out for an object like a seatbelt. It’s also great strength training and can improve a persoon’s balance. “Physiologically, (it) calms you down,” Pieper continued.
“Everybody should understand (there’s) a type of yoga for them … you just have to go out there and look for it.” Grote said.
There’s even one for the 20-year-old college student who was less flexible than Radel. “(But you) have to be patient.” The American Yoga Association’s website says there are more than 100 schools of yoga, and Grote said there’s everything from “hot classes” to “gentle classes.”
Hot yoga is taught in a hot room with high temperatures, sometimes up in the 90- to 100-degree range. Gentle yoga is good for new students, according to Grote, or for someone recovering from illness or injuries. The movements are slower, gently waking up the joints. Power Flow classes are “vigorous” according to Grote, and the breathing must be synchronized with each movement. It focuses on strength and endurance.
Julie Booth, another yoga instructor, teaches the Gentle Yoga class at the Wilfred R. Cameron Wellness Center. She starts each class off by focusing on breathing, or pranayama. Then, the 20-plus students move into warmups and asana, or postures. They move into a cooldown next, along with sabasana, or relaxation poses. The sound of Booth’s calm voice moves around the room as young and old alike close their eyes, relaxing and moving their limbs into contortions that look painful but aren’t. From downward facing dog, to mountain pose and half-sun salutations, the movements flow from one to the next quite easily.
Shirley Kakar, 74, from Emlenton and a student of Booth’s, said yoga has helped her shoulder injury improve over the past year. “Even when I’m not able to come, I do it and meditation at home,” she said. In one year of taking yoga, Kakar had gained four inches of flexibiity.
Booth said she loves seeing improvement in her students. “I love seeing and helping everyone take care of themselves and heal themseleves. We’re on this self-discovery path together.”