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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2014
PAGE 7
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HEALTH
Yoga helps students stay calm at start of semester
JAMIE KOZIOL
entertain@kansan.com
As the semester begins, we face the stressful task of buying books, going to new classes and getting back into the swing of things. But because it's a new year, let's try actually sticking to our resolution and stay in shape. Let's try something that relaxes the mind and relieves stress. Let's try yoga.
According to the Mayo Clinic, studies show that yoga can improve your mood and reduce stress and anxiety. It is an alternative medicine practice for the mind and body.
Jack Krebs, co-administrator at the Yoga Center of Lawrence, said at the beginning of yoga, class instructors remind everyone to set an intention for their practice.
"Setting an intention for your practice
Shannon O'Neil, a student from Wichita, is a yoga instructor at OmTree Shala on Massachusetts Street. O'Neil said she enjoys doing yoga because it encourages a mind-body connection while being a form of exercise that never gets redundant and always challenges her mentally and physically.
means getting rid of all distractions from the day," Krebs said. "This is the time to block out homework, class or tests and fully engage."
Along with mastering breathing, you can focus on the relaxing poses. Krebs said when students sit hunched over for most of the day, their organs are compressed. Yoga poses focus on opening the body to expand the organs and increase blood flow.
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
The Yoga Center of Lawrence teaches a certain style of yoga called Iyengar. According to the Iyengar Yoga Association of Greater New York, this incorporates strength, flexibility, balance and meditation.
"We always say for the mind to be quiet, the body has to be quiet."
Krebs explained that lyengar yoga means getting into a pose and holding it for a length of time. While engaged in the pose, it is important to relax the muscles that are not needed at that moment.
Once you have engaged in the class, Krebs said the next important aspect of yoga is breathing. Most people constrict their breathing in everyday life, causing more anxiety in the body. During yoga, people learn to breathe naturally and this allows the body to return to its natural flow.
JACK KREBS Yoga Center of Lawrence
"The goal of learning to breathe easily and naturally is to help people when they find themselves in a stressful situation," Krebs said. "Their experience with breathing naturally during yoga passes into their day and helps them relax."
This technique can be passed over into daily life as well.
For example, he said students tend to tense
"We always say for the mind to be quiet, the body has to be quiet," Krebs said.
up unnecessary muscles in their face or toes while writing. The extra tension adds stress to the body and mind.
Erica Powell, a sophomore at the University, has practiced yoga for two years for fitness benefits and relaxation.
"I like yoga because it helps me feel calm, healthy and less stressed," Powell said. "It helps me manage stress from my dav."
Powell said on days she practices yoga she feels more relaxed than other days.
"It's an hour a day where I don't have to worry about anything." Powell said.
Even after reading this article, you may be intimidated by those yoga experts who twist their bodies into pretzels. Just remember yoga is about your
body and relaxing your mind,
not anyone else's.
in each class."
"Yoga is not competitive," Krebs said. "You may not be
—Edited by Kate Shelton
the most flexible person in the room, but stretching your body in the way that is best for you is what's most important
COEN FROM PAGE 5
fast to his dream or selling out into a mundane career.
If you know anything about the Coens, you appreciate that each of their films are thematically different from each other, but retain certain characteristics that pervade their entire cache.
"Llewyn", however, strays a bit from its directors' usual idiosyncratic methods. Coen nerds will recognize numerous, classic Coen devices — a quirky supporting cast, a dedicated, yet doomed-to-fail protagonist, characters' plans that spiral out of control and a fiendishly intriguing John Goodman character — that seems a bit watered down in
comparison to their previous films. These motifs take a back seat, perhaps even a third row, to the study of Davis' life, personality and motivations. "Inside Llewyn Davis" lives up to its name by focusing all its energy on taking you inside the struggles of one man, without much regard to anything else.
Much like how Davis only cares about himself, the film only cares about his situations. It's comparable to the Coens' character-focused 2001 film, "The Man Who Wasn't There" except without a starkly convoluted plot.
Either this is merely an in-between film for the Coens, or their cinematic arsenal is moving in a whole new direction. They produced a
great and Oscar-worthy film as usual, but it again lacks the elaborate plot and risk elements of many of their previous films. They've set the bar so high in the past that a film like "Llewyn," despite its aesthetic and fundamental flawlessness, doesn't reach the same heights the Coens have shown the world they're capable of reaching. Despite these minor criticisms, Llewyn is an incredibly moving, emotionally charged movie, and will doubtlessly make a huge splash at the Oscars on March 2. Coen fans, expect greatness, not perfection.
Everyone else, see this movie as soon as you can.
Edited by Kate Shelton
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