3 Simple Steps To Incorporate Yoga into Your Life at Nova
By: Grace McGowan
I began practicing yoga two and a half years ago during the summer before my senior year of high school. My friend asked me to go with her to a hot yoga class at a studio in our area, and after the experience, I was hooked. After a few months of regular practice, I saw a marked increase in not only my physical health and fitness, but in my mental health as well. Studies show that yoga improves mood, reduces stress, and can improve symptoms of people affected by depression, anxiety, and ADHD. Yoga is also great for strengthening your body, especially your core, and improving your flexibility and balance.
During my freshman year at Villanova, I looked into different ways to keep practicing yoga on a college budget and without a car. Below are the three best ways I found to practice yoga as a Villanova student. Regardless of budget and whether you have past experience with yoga or not, there are tons of different options available for you to take this step towards reinforcing your mental and physical health.
YouTube Videos
YouTube is a great place to find free yoga-related content including full, taped classes or videos breaking down certain difficult postures. Practicing on your floor space in your dorm room is very doable, and equipment and a mat are rarely necessary for at-home yoga practice. I recommend the channel Yoga with Adriene. She posts great at-home videos that include explaining the basics, deep stretching, and power yoga. Her videos range in length from five minutes to a full hour. Spending a few minutes in the morning following along to a YouTube video is a great, easy way to integrate yoga into your routine.
Davis Center Classes
The Davis Center’s group exercise classes include vinyasa yoga, beginner vinyasa classes, and power flows. Each class meets once a week and has twelve sessions total throughout the semester. You can find the class descriptions here. Registration for the classes occurs at the beginning of each semester, and each class costs between $20 and $35 (total, not per session). This is another option for those of us on a strict budget or who only want to commit to going to a class once a week. The Davis Center also offers a free yoga class every Sunday from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the Alumni Gym. Be sure to check out this free class if you want to try it before signing up for a full semester class.
Bulldog Yoga
If you want to get involved at a yoga studio, Bulldog Yoga is a great option within walking distance from Villanova’s campus. Bulldog is located right by the Villanova Starbucks and many of the studio’s classes are heated, and they offer a good range of class difficulty levels. You can find their schedule and their price packages here. Bulldog offers monthly memberships, packs of five or ten classes, and single class purchases. All of these packages have discounts for students. Bulldog also has an intro offer of five classes to be used in two weeks at a cost of $29, or $23 for students, if you want to give the studio a try before purchasing a larger package.
Joining a studio is certainly the most expensive option of the three, but if you like the community aspect of going to class and plan on attending regularly, this may be the best choice for you. Bulldog’s classes are challenging for all levels and their instructors are highly qualified and helpful. Joining a studio is probably the best way to see results as quickly as possible. If you want to see what Bulldog is like, try the intro offer to see if it’s is right for you.
