September is National Yoga Month, and Jackie Ngo, an ETSU sophomore, attended the Gentle Yin Yoga session for the first time last Thursday afternoon at the Basler Center for Physical Activity. She wanted to get a head start on stress relieving before school kicked in she said. “With yoga there is more of a deeper level with the connective tissue and all, and it’s more of a spiritual thing instead of, ‘I have to work out to look good’,” said Ngo. “Its much easier [on your body].”

The BCPA provides all yoga classes free of charge to faculty and students, but anyone has the chance to live a healthier lifestyle because during September the Yoga Health Foundation is offering a yoga month card online at www.yogamonth.org.

This allows any new yoga student one free week of classes as part of the National Yoga Month Awareness Campaign.

Ana Zavala, a junior studying nursing, is participating in National Yoga Month. The spiritual release and relaxing part of just letting go rather than the physical and emotional aspects of yoga is the reason she practices, Zavala said.

“All day sitting in a chair, just listening to lectures is sometimes tiring, and just coming here relieves you, makes you feel better and really peaceful after you finish a session,” Zavala said. “You are free from everything.”

Practicing yoga balances the metabolism, which also aids in magnifying self-control, concentration and attention. Besides improving posture and relieving unwanted bodily aches, it aids in uniting mind, body and spirit.

“[Yoga] can be a [tool] of release for people,” said Hannah Gabeler, the Gentle Yin instructor and a junior studying nursing. Gabeler has been teaching yoga for a year and a half, training in Asheville, N.C., at the Yoga Center for nine months. “Many women store a lot of tension in their hips, and the hip-stretching poses can be really opening for people.”

During Gabeler’s session, the focal point is to bring each student’s mind into balance with holding the poses for three to five minutes, allowing them to access the connective tissue underneath the muscle.

“When we stretch and exercise we are working our muscles, but when we hold a pose longer, we are able to access the connective tissue that holds the muscle to the bone,” said Gabeler. “The beautiful thing about yoga is you can make adjustments to make it as easy as you want or as difficult.”

Fitness classes like Gabeler’s offer students a different form of exercise.

“Not everyone wants to come to the gym and lift weights,” said Ngo.

Yin Gentle Yoga, Gabeler’s class, is offered on Thursday at 4 p.m. in the BCPA yoga studio.

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