As the quarter picks up and deadlines begin to stack, some Western Washington University students turn to the yoga mat for relief.
Yoga, often viewed through the American lens as a workout or just stretching and balancing, involves much more and is spreading through student communities at Western. On campus, the yoga community is growing and the benefits are noticeable, especially in stress and mood regulation.
Grace Hitt, a second-year communications major, said she started yoga for the stretching involved and aesthetics, but began taking it seriously after noticing improvements in emotional regulation and strengthening her mindfulness.
“Once I let go of that image of what yoga should be according to aesthetics and I just started appreciating it for what it does for my body and my mental health, it became a lot easier to do,” she said. “I've noticed I've been a lot calmer, and also when I do other sports, the fact that I do yoga comes out in it because my movements tend to be more controlled. I'm not so angry when I mess up.”
Hitt said yoga is about self-discovery, not competition, and emphasized the value of taking it at your own pace. She described yoga as a practice in trying to see where one’s body is at.
“And it's not pass or fail, you're just asking yourself, can I do this? Sometimes you can't, sometimes you can,” she said.
Sydney Johnson, a yoga instructor at the Wade King Recreation Center and fourth-year business management major, has observed a growing yoga community at Western.
Johnson said attendance in her classes has increased throughout the school year: what started as roughly eight students per class has grown to around 20. She has also seen friendships form and confidence build in the classroom.
“Since starting in the fall, I've seen people come and go, but I've also seen so many people come back and be consistent,” she said. “And I've seen so many friendships be built, and so many people grow, get stronger and feel more confident.”
Johnson said that yoga can feel intimidating to start, but she emphasized the importance of simply showing up and listening to your body. She said that even on difficult days, yoga helps her reset.
“Any movement is better than no movement, I think people think that when you come here, you have to give 100%, but even just showing up can really make a difference,” she said. “When I'm having a bad day and I teach, versus having a good day and teach, at the end of my class, I feel the exact same – it's like a complete reset.”
Dr. Heather Freeman, a clinical psychologist and yoga therapist at Western’s Counseling and Wellness Center, integrates yoga into mental healthcare through group sessions and workshops.
Freeman said yoga focuses on internal awareness and offers therapeutic tools that help individuals better understand themselves.
“What I love about yoga is it's like you're in your own little laboratory of self-discovery on your tiny rubber yoga mat,” she said. “Whatever shows up on your yoga mat usually is something that you're working with off of your yoga mat.”
For students navigating the pressure of the academic quarter, yoga may not solve everything but it can offer a moment to pause, reset and reconnect with their bodies.
“You are using your body as a tool to regulate yourself and calm yourself down, so that you can be able to meet the moment in a more regulated or more perceptive way,” Freeman said. “So the benefits are having more intentionality around learning about ourselves and our inner landscape; yoga gives us a door.”
Manna Spiro (she/her) is a campus life reporter. She is a third-year public relations student excited to start her first quarter writing for The Front. Manna directs the style and beauty team for The Rage Magazine and can be found going on spontaneous adventures with friends around Bellingham. You can contact her at mannaspiro.thefront@gmail.com.
