The Pointer UW-Stevens Point Student Newspaper
The Yoga and Meditation Club offers an alternative to fast paced sports and an opportunity to clear the mind while you strengthen the body.
The club meets every Tuesday at 8 p.m. in studio B of the Allen Center where they perform different types of yoga, meditation, and occasionally Tai Chi.
“We try to mix it up a little bit from week to week. Some weeks all we do is mediation and then the next week it will be all yoga based,” said junior president Lindsay Larson.
The club started in the spring of 2013 by Larson and a handful of friends.
“Not a lot of people knew about us right away and we only have guest instructors three time a semester. Certified members would teach every week,” Larson said. “But we wanted to implement intensity and broaden things. Now when you go in the Allen Center it’s hard to find a place for you to put your mat because there are so many people.”
There is a $10 membership fee for the semester that goes toward the cost of instructors.
“We have different instructors each week and guest instructors for the workshops we host,” said junior public relations officer Courtney Ross.
On the weeks there are no outside instructors booked one of the certified officers or members teaches the class.
“That’s how much a single yoga class in town would cost and it covers all on the instructors we have come in,” Larson said.
The variety of instructors gives members the opportunity to experience different teachers and different styles as well as the different types of exercises and what they do for you.
“Usually when you mediate you’re sitting or lying down and you focus your breath to clearing your head. It can be guided and it’s meant to get away from the stress in your life,” Larson said. “Yoga is more of a physical act about breathing and position. You focus a lot on your breaths and being in the present moment and what you’re doing.”
While different, both exercises help the mind and body.
“Yoga focuses on breathing and thoughts and meditation breaths and trying not to eliminate the things around you and focus on your body,” Ross said.
On Nov. 7 Danita Walsh taught a vinyasa yoga class, meaning it was more fitness based as opposed to slower with held positions.
These workshops are offered approximately once a month and offer an opportunity to get in some more yoga.
“I think the instructors are excited to teach us. You don’t always get a chance to teach college students, but when you do you can try new things because we’re a little more flexible,” Larson said.
These workshops are in the same studio as the regular meetings and are on occasion held on Tuesdays.
“For the most part the workshops are on Fridays. They are more specialty-based then our meetings,” Ross said.
Yoga and Meditation Club is open to UWSP students as well as the community.
“You don’t have to be a college student to be in yoga club,” Larson said. “Why not offer it to everyone? Community members are welcome too for the same membership fee.”
Rebecca Vosters
Reporter
rvost360@uwsp.edu
