Breath in, and begin to find a balance within yourself. People of all ages and sizes can be found at local yoga studios searching for stability within their bodies. Even some members of the student and staff community here at SHS are catching the yoga bug. A yoga craze has been sweeping the nation but it’s no surprise considering the evident health benefits.
Recently I caught up with varsity athlete, senior Ellie Quenzer, who revealed that over the summer she attended yoga about four times a week. She describes yoga as being ‘all inclusive’ and said, “everyone was just doing their own thing.”
At the time I wasn’t sure if I agreed with this hippie dippie style of exercise. Workouts mean long hours at the gym and putting a “healthy” strain on your muscles, right? “Wrong,” said Quenzer; she said that “a well adjusted balance of both is ideal” and from what I can see she`s right.
Some tend to criticize yoga as being all about flexibility but why then would the Scituate High School athletics programs be incorporating yoga clinics, run by history teacher Ms. Fanelli, into their workouts? Fanelli, on her way to becoming a certified yoga instructor, says that “yoga is so much more than flexibility” and that “the true key is balance.” She identified that ‘finding a balance’ doesn’t solely mean a spiritual one but that the deep breathing and stretches help diminish lactic acid build up (the most common cause of cramps) in athletes and bring stability to the spine and muscles.
Yoga is not only used as a preventative measure against injury, as Quenzer pointed out, and that through her experiences she saw many people treating strains and other minor injuries with yoga sessions. Though the preventative and therapeutic benefits of yoga are outstanding, Quenzer warns the prospective student should choose an instructor carefully because at one particular session Quenzer sprained her toe attempting a more advanced move. Ms. Fanelli also upholds this belief and says to those interested in yoga, “make sure your teacher is certified.” If you’re as interested as this journalist is in the benefits of yoga just remember to be careful and make a health benefits that you can`t get from any other work out. There are, however, precautions to yoga, as with any other exercise, but these can be avoided by knowing your limits and selecting a certified instructor. Dangers aside, yoga is a great alternative to the daily gym grind and an even greater way to embarrass yourself in spandex.