Roosevelt University students don't have to venture to the Far East for the soothing practice of a yoga class. In fact, they only need to travel to the second floor of the Auditorium Building. A weekly gentle yoga class is offered in the Spertus Lounge, where individuals can reap the benefits of the ancient meditative practice and unwind the daily troubles of the mind.
It's not every day that one can imitate the poses of a happy baby, a monkey and a tree in less than 75 minutes with a group of people on an idle Wednesday afternoon. The Spertus Lounge offers a peaceful ambiance to the class taught by yoga instructor and composition professor Julie Sanford.
Sanford efficiently describes each of the poses and guides the class through a number of different exercises. All yoga poses are relatively low-key in the sense that no one needs prior yoga experience to follow along and benefit from the practice. Sanford completed her Hatha Yoga Teacher
Training Certification with Suddha Weixler at the Chicago Yoga Center and has been practicing the mind and body discipline for 12 years.
"Yoga has changed my life so much," said Sanford. "I really want to be able to share this with other people and have them feel as good as I do."
After noticing that Roosevelt had no yoga class to offer students, Sanford coordinated this class as an opportunity for students, faculty and staff to partake in the advantages of yoga.
In a Mayo Clinic article regarding stress management, the staff highlighted four of the numerous benefits yoga produces. Mind concentration reduces stress and an increased overall body fitness and flexibility. Better management of chronic health conditions such as cancer, depression, pain, anxiety and insomnia, and weight loss are all possible health benefits of yoga, according to the report.
Students of all ages, skill levels, shapes and sizes are encouraged to attend a gentle yoga class. Sanford said she hopes to attract more people for the classes, especially students.
"Students who need a place to go and figure out how to deal with stress, school, tests, exams and may need a place to recharge, it's a great place to come," said Sanford.
Read more about Yoga at : http://yogatips.infoplugin.com/
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Anyone wanting to get in shape like the stars need go no further than Bryan Kest's videos. Kest teaches wildly popular yoga classes in Santa Monica, California--so popular that stars like Rhea Perlman, David Duchovny, and Elisabeth Shue willingly sweat alongside the hoi polloi in Kest's packed, ancient loft studio. If you don't happen to be in the neighborhood, not to worry: Kest's yoga videos are nearly as good as being there. Volume 1: Energize is a beginner level class that nonetheless is smartly designed to provide challenges for all levels of users. Kest's Jersey-boy voice at first seems in contrast to the serene environment and inner-peace objectives, but it gradually becomes soothing and hypnotic in its own right. Stretches and strengthening moves are alternated with just enough repose to keep even first timers on track. After mastering Vol. 1, practitioners can go on to Volume 2: Tone or Volume 3: Sweat to further challenge themselves. As long as you keep in mind Kest's personal mantra--"If you're doing the best you can, you're doing this class perfectly"--you and this video should have many satisfying years of workouts together. --Anne Hurley
The first yoga text to outline a step-by-step sequence for developing a complete practice according to viniyoga--yoga adapted to the needs of the individual. 
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