Re-energize and identify with Yoga

by Jeanne Lombardo features editor

Every year at this time seniors are panicking about that first job, professors scramble to get our grades in on time and the rest of us are just trying to pass our finals. The end-of-the-semester crunch is closing in.

It would almost be unthinkable, amid this clutter, to take a few moments each day to meditate or do deep breathing exercises in order to re-energize. This is the idea behind Yoga.

Yoga is a form of Hinduism that has been around for 5,000 years. There are so many different types of Yoga, most of which aim for various goals. Yoga goals range from acquiring knowledge to developing t1exibility.

Hathayoga, which is the form of Yoga that most other Yogas are derived from, focuses on the unification of the body, mind and spirit. This unification helps us to achieve physical and mental health and also helps us to develop an inner peace.

Dr. Joseph Romano, professor of philosophy, has recently been doing various exercises, including Yoga, to relieve his bad back. His wife has been practicing Yoga for 10 years. Romano said she does Yoga to relax and it also lowers her blood pressure.

Romano said he considers Yoga to be a type of religion because it is a form of Hinduism. However, he said some people may want to practice Yoga purely for the physical benefits. Yoga keeps you limber and helps you to attain flexibility.

Romano is most familiar with Kundalini Yoga. According to Romano, Kundalini Yoga helps you to tap into the source of your energy and into the "spiritual system that mirrors the center of our universe."

The goal of Kundalini Yoga is to rise above physical desires in order to attain a greater understanding of where the self fits in with the rest of the world. Our very existence, according to Romano, means we are a part of a greater whole.

"When I can learn to identify with the whole and accept it, I can transcend desires," Romano said. "You have to overcome the strong individual desires of the self."

Victoria Ferry, a student at Wilmington College in Delaware, has been taking Yoga classes at the Healthplex in Springfield for the past few months. For Ferry, Yoga has helped her to _gain physical strength and develop balance.

Students are instructed to do deep breathing exercises through their noses. This helps to set the tone for the physical exercises. The exercises consist mostly of stretching the arm, leg and back muscles.

"Your legs get stronger and the breathing relaxes you," Ferry said. "It is very relaxing, especially at the end of the day."

Georgette Dubois, a Yoga instructor at the Yoga Garden in Narberth, has been teaching Kripalu Yoga for two years.

Kripalu Yoga is a form of Hathayoga and it concentrates mainly on physical postures.

Kripalu Yoga, according to Dubois, is centered around selfawareness, consciousness and self-acceptance.

Dubois does not believe Yoga to be a form of religion, althou_gh she says Yoga does have a spiritual aspect to it.

"People can start out doing it for physical reasons and sometimes it can lead to something deeper," Dubois said.

According to Dubois Yoga has become quite popular in the modern world.

"Yoga has become so popular and it has become so mainstream," Dubois said. "There are now Yoga studios and Yoga classes that can be taken in health clubs."

There are several books, videos and audio tapes on Yoga for the eager beginner. You can find these in libraries as well as in book stores.

The Yoga Garden in Narberth will be hosting a free introductory Yoga class on May 9 from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. For more information call (610) 664-2705.

The editorials, viewpoints, opinions and letters to the editor published in Loquitur are the views of the student editorial staff and the individual writers, not the entire student body or the faculty and administration.

Thursday, May 1, 1997