St. Thomas University’s athletics department offers recreational activities including pilates, yoga, boxing and French dance at the JB O’Keefe Fitness Centre’s Recreational Gym.
Classes started at the beginning of September and will run until the end of November.
These one-hour sessions are free for STU students and JB O’Keefe members who want to participate.
The classes are adjusted to match participants’ energy levels, providing energizing or relaxing sessions.
Barbara Timmins, STU’s yoga teacher with 10 years of experience, talks about the importance and benefits of yoga.
“Yoga is about being in different shapes in our bodies and breathing within it and trying to turn off our thinking mind,” said Timmins.
Students are constantly overthinking and it’s important to take a break from time to time because it helps to improve performance, cognitively and physically, she said.
“I remember what it feels like to sit in class and be hunched over a computer. Our posture effects our confidence and energy level,” said Timmins.
According to Timmins, practicing yoga brings physical and mental benefits such as reducing anxiety and stress and alleviating physical aches and pains.
She also digs deeper into the sense of belonging and the importance of creating a community, especially for students going in their first year.
Timmins believes physical activities can foster a sense of community and help students to connect with others.
“Yoga helps us feel calm and be more stable in our minds, it help us do our school work better and focus better,” Timmins said.
Michelle Guilbert, STU boxing coach, is the owner of Pivot Boxing and a student at STU. She emphasized the importance of building student’s skills and pushing them out of their comfort zone.
“I show them all the fundamentals for boxing. Then, I try to get them out of their comfort zone so they can learn and enjoy themselves when they do the workout,” said Guilbert.
Boxing also provides benefits such as a healthy lifestyle and reducing anxiety, according to Guilbert.
“Students are dealing with many things at once which causes their brains to become overstimulated and it’s good to bring that tension down by doing some physical activity,” she said.
Guilbert also agrees with how attending these sessions can help foster community. Especially when they just got to university and they don’t know what to expect.
“I would suggest that people should at least try it once. If you don’t like it then that’s fine, you just keep on moving, but at least try it out,” she said.
Recreational activities aim to encourage students to get active and improve their well-being.
For this reason, students need to know what resources they have available and take advantage of them, said Guilbert.
