Namaste! This past week I went to my first ever yoga class.

Really, it was my first ever group fitness class in general. Have I ever showed a passion for yoga? No. Have I ever thought to myself that I would participate in a yoga class? Never in a million years. Looking back to that one-hour class, I can say I am very glad that I signed up. I am also happy to be able to share the things that I learned from STRETCHING out of my comfort zone (See what I did there?).

Take advantage of opportunities

The biggest thing I took away from my Yoga class was that The Rec has so many opportunities to get involved in. I never would have known how cool Group Fit classes were if The Rec didn’t offer them for free during Demo Days. There is so much available at The Rec that even I don’t know about, and it is truly eye-opening to see how many different activities and training styles Campus Recreation provides. And here is my shameless plug to our Campus Recreation app (Auburn Rec) and all of the social media accounts (@AuburnCampusRec) where you can find out about all of the great things offered by Campus Recreation.

Self-progress

Yoga is something I never imagined doing, but I am so glad I tried it. The class had all varying levels of experience, so it was not intimidating at all going in as a beginner. Throughout the class, everyone was concentrating on their own “practice,” which made me feel a lot more comfortable. In this “judgement-free” zone I was able to surprise myself with skills I never knew I had. One of the great things about yoga is that it is not a competition. This allows sole focus on self-improvement and progression, which will begin to form as early as your first session.

Guys can do yoga too

This one is for all my guy readers… YOGA IS NOT JUST FOR GIRLS. This type of fitness has always been associated with females, and there is still a stigma surrounding Yoga and many other fitness classes. Yoga is a personal activity, therefore everyone is more than welcome to try it out. If you want to learn more about this, there’s a great article that you can read linked here.

Me signing up for this yoga class was eye-opening in many ways, and I am glad to be able to share the lessons I learned from signing up. If you too want to take a step out of your comfort zone, I urge you to sign up for a Group Fitness class today!

Be well, Auburn.

Photography: Auburn Campus Rec