Photo by: Cadencia Photography
The Art of Yoga
It’s that time of the year again when midterms and class projects are piling up; spring break is around the corner and in some cases “senioritis” is starting to kick in. According to Anxiety and Depression Association of America 80 percent of college students suffer from frequent or daily stress.
Keeping a high GPA, maintaining a social life and being healthy can sometimes be challenging and overwhelming.
Here at University of Texas at Arlington, every first Monday of every month the Fort Worth campus offers an event called “The Art of Yoga” where students of UTA are encouraged to go and relieve their stress in a series of yoga workouts. The only requirement is for the students to take their own mat.
Yoga has become increasingly popular over the years, but many people confuse yoga as a sport for those who are flexible and avoid participating in any activity related to it. In reality yoga has the potential to benefit your life style, immediately after class, after a few months, even after a few years of constant yoga classes.
In most cases students drain their energy and are sleep deprived, their mind gets no rest but yoga helps access inner strength through physical, mental, and spiritual discipline. Yoga continues to grow within the college community because it gives college students the essential tools to survive college life.
Some reasons college students should consider doing yoga:
Improves brain function: According to a research from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (Journal of Physical Activity and Health) brain functions improves immediately after one yoga session. This is due to the meditation and breathing process students go through which reduces anxiety and stress. The relief of stress and anxiety yoga brings is also tied to the lift in mood and helps control future anxiety.
Enhances focus and concentration: Believe it or not students can improve their concentration in school and avoid daydreaming. Some poses in yoga can be a bit complicated and need more concentration than usual, this teaches students the fundamentals of concentration and implement the benefits of it in school related situations by improving their listening, focus and awareness.
Lower stress levels: Yoga includes a variety of poses that require stretching which lead tense muscles to loosen up causing relaxation to the body and mind. The neck, back and shoulder muscles tend to get the most tense but as you continue to stretch and loosen those muscles up, the more your levels of stress will go down.
Healthy weight: Rushing from one side of campus to the next, studying all day in the library, working on a group project, but most commonly I don’t have time are all excuses we have said when it comes down to our poor eating habits. Most students who don’t know how to cope with stress tend to reach out to fast food and unhealthy meals throughout the day. Although yoga does not guarantee significant weight loss, it does help you get to your ideal and healthy natural body weight by building lean muscle and burning calories throughout the poses.
Better sleep: This is probably the most important thing for any college student. Sleep deprivation is a big deal on college campuses. According to a research done in Brown University only 11% of college students report good sleep. One of the most important benefits of yoga is receiving better sleep. Yoga silences the mind and helps relax the nervous system liberating oneself from concerns that tend to keep us up longer hours at night.
As spring break begins this may be the best time to take advantage of yoga to have a calm and relaxed break.
The University of Texas at Arlington-Fort Worth will be hosting “The Art of Yoga” this Saturday March 12, 2016 free of cost to all students the only requirement is to bring your own mat. Take advantage of this opportunity and start off your spring break on the right foot.
Location: 1401 Jone St. Fort Worth TX 76102 Time: 11am-12pm Don’t forget to bring your own mat!
-BG