2008 Woodie Awards
Yoga gives students time to relax
Ryan Weaver
Issue date: 11/17/05 Section: Lifestyle
The number of participants in yoga classes at the Emerson College Fitness Center (ECFC) has increased this year from a handful of practitioners to full classes holding 15 to 18 students, according to Jenn Finn, general manager of the ECFC.
While the overall numbers for group fitness classes have gone up since the fitness center became free to all students (last year's members paid $150 per semester), class sizes usually shrink as homework piles up, Finn said. "November is couch potato month," she said. "We expect that. It's just the nature of the beast. You got projects, you got midterms, the holidays are coming up."
This year, however, is different for the fitness center's yoga classes in particular, according to Finn.
"[Attendance for yoga classes] has remained pretty steady," she said. "Yoga is more popular now than it ever has been. Classes are generally full." Students must sign up in advance, and often encounter mat-to-mat traffic in the one crowded room. "Two years ago, we wouldn't have had [that situation]," Finn said.
One reason for the class's popularity may be the focus on relaxation that characterizes yoga classes and makes them different from more demanding routines at the ECFC, such as the military-style workout offered in the Boot Camp class or the 7 a.m. intensive bike-based spin class.
The ECFC's programs include both relaxing and power yoga styles and a yoga and Pilates fusion class. Finn teaches her Wednesday class using a mixture of methods that combine cardiovascular work with balancing poses and meditation.
Finn said that when she became interested in teaching yoga, she wanted to "demystify" the practice for beginners. "In bringing [yoga] to the masses, yes, you lose something, but the benefits for everyone are so vast that it is great to bring as many people into the practice as possible," Finn said.
One of those beginners is junior writing, literature and publishing major Katie Cotugno, a resident assistant on the 6th floor of the Little Building. Finn approached her last year with an offer to do a yoga workshop in the dorm for Cotugno's residents.
While the overall numbers for group fitness classes have gone up since the fitness center became free to all students (last year's members paid $150 per semester), class sizes usually shrink as homework piles up, Finn said. "November is couch potato month," she said. "We expect that. It's just the nature of the beast. You got projects, you got midterms, the holidays are coming up."
This year, however, is different for the fitness center's yoga classes in particular, according to Finn.
"[Attendance for yoga classes] has remained pretty steady," she said. "Yoga is more popular now than it ever has been. Classes are generally full." Students must sign up in advance, and often encounter mat-to-mat traffic in the one crowded room. "Two years ago, we wouldn't have had [that situation]," Finn said.
One reason for the class's popularity may be the focus on relaxation that characterizes yoga classes and makes them different from more demanding routines at the ECFC, such as the military-style workout offered in the Boot Camp class or the 7 a.m. intensive bike-based spin class.
The ECFC's programs include both relaxing and power yoga styles and a yoga and Pilates fusion class. Finn teaches her Wednesday class using a mixture of methods that combine cardiovascular work with balancing poses and meditation.
Finn said that when she became interested in teaching yoga, she wanted to "demystify" the practice for beginners. "In bringing [yoga] to the masses, yes, you lose something, but the benefits for everyone are so vast that it is great to bring as many people into the practice as possible," Finn said.
One of those beginners is junior writing, literature and publishing major Katie Cotugno, a resident assistant on the 6th floor of the Little Building. Finn approached her last year with an offer to do a yoga workshop in the dorm for Cotugno's residents.
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