SPORTS

All About Yoga

Exercise your body, mind, and spirit

Julie Folk, The Carillon (University of Regina)

REGINA (CUP)—When thinking
about yoga, many picture very flexible
people involved in difficult poses. This
is not what yoga is about, however.
While it can help physical aspects, yoga
is about so much more.

Yoga “tries to bring into balance
body, mind, heart, and spirit. The men-
tal, physical, and emotional states are all
equally important,” said Kelly Green, an
advanced certified integrated-yoga ther-
apist, as well as director and owner of
the Prairie Yoga Centre in Regina.

While yoga does create more flexi-
bility in an individual, it improves
strength as well. As Green said, “A
healthy muscle is equally strong and
flexible. A lot of poses also work on
things like the organ and nervous sys-
tems. This is why yoga is so wonderful
for getting rid of stress and helping
people sleep better.”

What is important to remember is
that anyone can do yoga. It is possible
to take many different classes, such as
restorative yoga for those needing heal-
ing, the more physically challenging
flowing yoga, beginner classes, or part-
ner yoga, to name a few.

Yoga is possible for anyone, includ-
ing those with physical problems, the

young, the old, and anyone in between.
Men and women are equally welcome
and capable of yoga.

“Professional sports players do
yoga—not only does it give their bodies
cross-training, it is also valuable mental-
ly. Athletes have found that it makes a
difference both physically and mental-
ly,’ Green said.

“The poses are not what yoga really
is. Yoga is how you do the poses, how
you do the breathing. You need a mind-
ful attitude, to be able to listen to your
body—not to compete with yourself or
others. Students would definitely benefit
from yoga, for yoga is about keeping
sane, which is helpful in our driven cul-
ture. Yoga is a way to concentrate and
focus—to reconnect with that quiet
place inside.”

Green emphasized the important

thing about finding a place to practice
yoga is to find a place and an instructor
that fits you, the person looking for
yoga. It’s important to talk to the
teacher or the person running the place
to get a sense of what will fit for you,
depending on what your goals are.

 

 

Sports Down Under

Darren Paterson, OP Contributor

Oh baby! It started today! You know, ’'m
well aware that about a month or so ago,
I was dutifully trashing Aussie sports,
but P’ve been watching the Ashes cricket
series between Australia and England
and I’ve sort of gotten hooked.

For those of you unfamiliar with the
series, here’s a very abridged run-down.
It’s a five-match series in which each
match takes five days. The way it works
is that in 1882, the English and
Australians were set to play a match
against each other. The English, not
wanting to be embarrassed by a team
from the colonies, put together a dream-
team to assure their victory. Long story
short, the English lost and a newspaper
published an obituary that read:

In Affectionate Remembrance of
English Cricket Which Died At The
Oval on 29th August 1882
Deeply lamented by a large circle of
sorrowing friends and acquaintances
REP:

NB: The body will be cremated, and
the ashes taken to Australia.

Thus, the match up would forever be
known as the Ashes. Then, in 1883, a

 

velvet bag was bought to hold the
“ashes” of English cricket and a silver
urn was purchased, in which was placed
the ashes of a cricket stump.

The reason why I am now so into
this series is because they started the
fifth match today and England, who has
not won in 18 years, is leading the series
with two wins, one loss, and one tie.
That’s 18 years that the cocky Aussies
have been gloating about their sports
superiority. And it’s all about to come to
a crashing halt. All England needs to do
is win or draw one more match and
they'll take the Ashes back.

I’ve been watching this series since
the first match (the only one the Aussies
won) and it’s been absolutely riveting.
The English have been sticking it to
them and I’ve loved it. It’s been
absolutely fabulous to see the underdog
win as England has, and I can’t wait to
find out if they can pull it off. Sure it’s a
slow sport, and sure, [’ll have to wait five
days to find out if they win, but damned
if it hasn’t captured my excitement.