Free yoga was a big hit at the college on March 5, with some positions having to be adjusted because the room was so full.
This was the first in a series of weekly sessions which are being taught by students of Conestoga’s yoga instructor training and certification program. Rhonda Fowler, with assistance from Candice Fedy and Tracey Eccleston, the program’s instructor, lead 19 people through several poses, from the cat and cow pose to the eagle pose.
The hour-long session ended with the participants laying on their mats in the dark, focusing on relaxing each part of their bodies.
“It’s called corpse pose, but we’re not particularly fond of that term,” said Fowler, preferring to call it shavasana.
“There is no work to be done in shavasana,” she said.
In collaboration with Ageless Arts Yoga, a studio in Cambridge, the yoga instructor training and certification program aims to give students all the qualifications needed to become a registered yoga teacher.
Each student, or yoga teacher in training (YTT), will rotate into the teaching role with another on hand to assist. Each of the free classes is also supervised by an experienced yoga teacher to “ensure that the YTTs are offering a safe experience for everyone,” Eccleston said.
“That being said, the calibre of teaching that the YTTs are offering is equal to many currently employed teachers.”
For the YTTs, this is their first chance to teach a class to a room full of people.
“Each of the students has already had a chance to practise teaching on one another, but the challenge of an unknown audience, with multiple levels of experience, offers the students a valuable learning experience,” Eccleston said.
“We appreciate you giving us the opportunity to practise on you,” Fowler said.
The session gave people a chance to try something new.
“My mom has never done it before,” said Savannah DaSilva, a second-year early childhood education student who attended the event with her mom. “This gave her the opportunity to try it.
“I think it’s phenomenal.”
The event was originally scheduled to take place in Rm. 2F26 at the Doon campus, but was moved to 3F09 due to the number of people who attended.
“If more people continue to come, we’ll look into getting a bigger room,” Eccleston said.
Sessions are offered every Wednesday, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., until March 21. While the event is advertised as BYOM (bring your own mat), there are a few extra mats available.
I think it’s absolutely awesome when seniors can get involved in exercise and be more active. The number one tool older adults have to fight the effects of aging is exercise. Increased strength, flexibility, bone density, range of motion and over-all mobility are just some of the benefits, and it literally adds years of quality life. Any way we can encourage seniors to start down the path of a more active life – we should! Thank-you all, for providing a way for them to do that! Awesome way to give back to the community!
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