Strong to the core 
November 9, 2009 by Hannah Birch
New combination of Pilates and yoga sounds like a stretch
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Deep breathing isn’t just for anger management programs or women in labor.
It’s a fundamental concept to the new PiYo class held at the Student Recreation and Wellness Center.
The class is a combination of Pilates and yoga, melding concepts like core strength and building lean muscles with improving strength and flexibility.
The yoga concept of self-centering and self-awareness is another big aspect of the class.
“Focus on yourself,” urges Susan Shultz, the instructor.
Like most yoga classes, PiYo begins with a breathing series. Students are encouraged to forget about problems that may be weighing them down during the day.
“Push them away,” Shulz says.
The quiet music adds to the calm atmosphere, encouraging participants to really take deep breaths and slow their lives down, “if only for an hour.”
Shulz encouraged students to quiet their minds and allow their bodies to relax.
Participants in the class are urged to use “asanas,” or poses, like upward dog and triangle pose to uplift their day.
“Think about yourself and what makes you happy,” Shultz said. “Bring that feeling to your body.”
Aside from a mental rejuvenation, PiYo can help hone a rockin’ bod.
“It’s a lot of core,” said Marissa Nichols, who took the class. “You’re getting a combination of stretching [and] strength stuff, too.”
Newcomers shouldn’t be discouraged from coming to the class if it’s their first time.
“I think anyone can take it because of the way I modify it,” Shulz said. “I look at who’s coming in.”
Kerry Bartlett, another student in the class, agreed.
“Anybody can take it,” Bartlett said. “They tailor it to who’s there.”
Unlike a traditional yoga class where holding various poses is the focus, PiYo adds the cardio and core strength element of Pilates.
“I was really interested because I like yoga, but I like to have a good sweat, a work-out, too,” Shulz said. “I like both. It just fit.”
“I do Pilates or yoga [already], so it’s a nice combination,” said Nichols, adding that PiYo can help people at just about any fitness level. “It’s good for sports.”
An exercise series that focuses on the upper body, legs and core was interspersed with sun salutations and child’s pose, which created a balanced class structure and gave burning muscles a break.
The class also had a pretty fluid structure, ensuring that participants are never bored.
“It’s different all the time,” Bartlett said. “It’s always challenging.”
Modifications allow students to do what works best for them and makes PiYo a great option for group classes. It also helps when students don’t have a personal regimen for working out — just follow along, reach for your toes and breathe when they tell you to.
The class borrows another concept from yoga, ending in the pose called Savasana, or corpse pose. No, it’s not a misplaced Halloween gag. It’s a way to calm the mind and allow the body to be at rest, if only for a few minutes of the day.
The new PiYo class is on Fridays from 4-5 p.m. and is a great way to end your week strongly and start your weekend off right.
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Yoga is beneficial for the health in ways that modern science is just beginning to understand. Even though it has beenapplied with therapeutic intention for thousand of years, Yoga Therapy is only just now emerging as a discipline initself.
More health care practitioners are starting to include yogic techniques in their approach to healing — andmore yoga teachers give a therapeutic intention to their teaching. People who have never tried yoga before are startingto consider including Yoga in their treatment plan.
As science begins to document the importance of understanding the interrelation of all existing things, it looks to Yogawith an intrigued eye, for Yoga speaks Unity in every word. As yoga techniques are researched and new data is gathered,it becomes easier for science and the medical establishment to understand and accept the benefits of Yoga Therapy.Yet there is still not one consensual definition of the discipline.
In order to arrive to an adequate definition and tocome up with proper standards for Yoga Therapy, it is crucial at this early stage to properly address some delicateprofessional and ethical issues. At the same time it is important to educatethegeneralpublic about Yoga Therapy’sbenefits and careful use.
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