By Megan Suckut
Every Monday afternoon, Chelsea French leads hatha yoga for Northwestern students and faculty at the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion in Evanston. French connects with her students not only through asanas, pranayama and meditation, but also because she first discovered yoga while completing her master’s degree at Northwestern.
“I was looking for a way to feel physically healthy in grad school,” she says. “When I first took a yoga class there in 2003, from the first class, I was like, ‘Whoa, this is awesome.’”
A few years after she completed her master’s degree in trombone performance at Northwestern, French, now 36, became certified to teach yoga. While she initially began her practice for the physical benefits, she stayed for the mental and emotional benefits. “I wish that I had had yoga in undergrad,” she says.
For many students on a tight budget, yoga classes can be difficult to afford. But several universities, such as Northwestern and the University of Chicago, have come to recognize the benefits yoga has for stress reduction and have started to offer classes for free or at significantly discounted prices in their athletic facilities. This has inspired many students to maintain a regular yoga practice.
“It is expensive and you have to go to a [class] to practice with a good instructor,” Julie Bloom, a 21-year-old Northwestern student, says. “When athletic facilities are free, it’s hard to see the benefit in paying for an additional workout.”
Yet Bloom makes it a priority to take a class once or twice each week because of the focus and relaxation it has brought her amid her strenuous pre-med class schedule.
“Yoga acts as a form of mental and physical release,” Bloom says. “It has taught me to be patient and react mindfully. I believe every individual would benefit to adding a little yoga to his or her life.”
College life often involves late nights spent in the library finishing problem sets and research papers, as well as dining hall binges and weekend parties that may lead to the classic “Freshman 15” weight gain and physical and mental stress. While yoga benefits students in terms of stress level, it can also help them be more present, which may inspire them to make healthier choices throughout the day.
French believes so strongly in yoga’s benefits for college students that she has made sure her one of her weekly classes at Chi-Town Shakti, where she teaches many Loyola University students, has a “pay-what-you-can” option available. Having spent a couple of years unable to afford steady yoga classes after finishing graduate school, French appreciates the opportunity to guide college students through a new yoga practice and believes it can help them find their strength through the unsteady time that is college.
“A lot of times, students live in their heads and let themselves ride along with the flow of consciousness, which is not always healthy,” French says. “Yoga allows them to let themselves root in deeper and find that spot somewhere where they’re steady, peaceful and content. If you can find that and live from that spot rather than let your thoughts lead you, you’ll be happier and more yourself.”
Here are some resources for Chicago universities:
Northwestern
Free university yoga classes at SPAC (Henry Crown Sports Pavilion and Aquatics Center); Hatha, Vinyasa Flow, Athletic
Local student-affordable yoga studios: Dharma Yoga ($8 drop-in for students; Dharma, Hatha, Vinyasa) and Grateful Yoga ($12 drop-in for students; Hatha, Gentle)
University of Chicago
Free university yoga classes at Ratner Center; Hatha, Yin/Flow
Local student-affordable yoga studios: TriYoga Chicago ($12 drop-in for students; Hatha, flow) and CorePower Yoga ($16 drop-in for students; Power Yoga)
University of Illinois at Chicago
Free university yoga classes at the Student Recreation Facility; Ashtanga, Restorative, Vinyasa
Local student-affordable yoga studio: Bikram Yoga West Loop ($17 drop-in for all; Bikram)
DePaul University
Free university yoga classes at Ray Meyer Fitness and Recreation Center; Hatha
Local student-affordable yoga studios: CorePower Yoga ($16 drop-in for students; Power Yoga) and The Chicago School of Yoga ($19 drop-in for all; Ashtanga, Hot, Vinyasa, Yin)
Loyola University
Free university yoga classes at Halas Recreation Center; Hatha
Local student-affordable yoga studios: Chi Town Shakti ($12 drop-in for students, as well as pay-what-you-can classes available; Hatha, Vinyasa, Restorative)
Megan Suckut is a senior at Northwestern studying journalism and American history.
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