By Hannah Jennings
The exam season is fast approaching, and for some of us, assignments are already well underway. Hunched over our laptops, gripping pens and pencils, with stress taking over our lives, how do we stay healthy and relaxed? For me, it’s yoga.
While it’s stillness may look boring and off-putting from the outside, it is energising, invigorating, and heart-warming. Poses can include binds that demonstrate how unbelievably capable the human body is, whereas some poses look like someone is asleep or dead.
For instance, last year a yoga class in England was mistaken for a ‘ritual mass murder’ scene after people were seen lying on the floor, when in fact they were quietly practising a popular yoga pose known as ‘Shavasana’.
I want to share some of the benefits that ten minutes of yoga a day can offer our bodies and minds, and where you can participate in classes locally. You don’t need all the fancy incense, candles, or whale noise soundtracks. Just a mat or blanket, a comfortable outfit, and a quiet place to work.
Physically, no matter what style you practise, yoga has great benefits for all elements of our body. It can improve strength, flexibility, balance, and coordination. It can also ease bodily aches and pains such as arthritis, and an important one for students: improve our posture. Sitting at a desk all day is terrible for our spines, and that is an understatement.
Having a good stretch, crack, and twist is a great way to release all the tension in our back and shoulders that build up over the day. Yoga also helps us become more aware of our bodies, where we’re holding tension or stress, if we have any pains, or if we’re tired. Furthermore, yoga aids relaxation and has been proven to help us sleep by calming our brains, breathing, and muscles.
Additionally, yoga can benefit our mental health, allowing a release for stress, anxiety, and depression. It can boost our self-esteem, confidence, and motivation to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Following breathing exercises is a good way to calm ourselves after a long day and can be used any time we feel panicked or anxious.
Although Pilates is technically a different form of exercise, it can be incorporated into your yoga routine if you want to move at a quicker pace or focus more on core strength and working out specific parts of the body without using equipment. I often involve a leg workout into my routine to get my heart pumping!
If I have managed to convince you to give yoga a try, where should you go? Well, AUSA runs its very own Yoga Society, which I was a member of myself for two years. It currently consists of two classes a week and is great for all levels of experience! Alternatively, Aberdeen Sports Village runs private classes which do require advance booking, and Mount Coffee at Upper Kirkgate and Greyhope Bay often host yoga practices. If you’re more interested in private practice, there are plenty of videos and YouTube Channels which offer a mix of yoga routines you can follow from the comfort of your own bedroom. And if you’re feeling cheeky, have a glass of wine while you go.