Are you looking for a relaxing activity to add to your wellness routine? Look no further than the Chez Veteran’s Center! This Fall semester, we offered Yoga every Tuesday from September through Ocotober 8th. This initiative provided a space for students to find their zen and socialize with other military-connected Illini.
Yoga’s Health Benefits
Yoga is a great way to improve physical health, emotional wellbeing, as well as mental clarity. Focusing on breathing, stretching, and mindfulness can be very beneficial in calming your stressors and anxieties, which is especially important for those with mental health struggles. If you have physical injuries or chronic pain, yoga can be a valuable tool to increase flexibility, strengthen muscles, and enhance general mobility. Moreover, by yoga’s exercises can aid you in improving emotional resilience.
Community and Connection
At the Chez Veterans Center, community is vital for navigating the struggles of life and school. The Center’s yoga classes are a place where military-connected students can bond with others who share similar experiences and support each other.
An Instructor’s Insights to Yoga
Jodi Adams says, “Yoga goes beyond the physical, impacting the mind and emotions. All thoughts and emotions are valid and need a safe space to be heard and understood. However, when our thoughts are consistently negative and limit our potential, they are potentially harmful. Yoga offers this safe space for one to explore the entirety of who we are, how we think and what we feel. Wellness takes into account one’s relationship to the self as a whole. The mind impacts the body which in turn impacts the mind. We can use this wisdom to perpetuate true wellness, or the opposite of wellness, including inactivity, depression, anger, or any other negative behaviors and emotions. Yoga means union – union of all of these parts or aspects of our nature. When these parts work in harmony, we are whole.”
So, When Can I Start?
We invite all military-connected students to join us every Tuesday at 4:00 pm. Classes will run until October 8 in Room 2015 at the Chez Veterans Center. If you have yoga experience, great! If you’ve never tried yoga, don’t worry! Our classes are inclusive and accommodating for everyone.
Article written by: Baileigh Hannah