Stretching for success: student leads yoga class

Sarah+Sun+and+Sarah+Zhu

Sarah Sun and Sarah Zhu

Haoran (Sarah)  Sun, a senior from China,  has started a girls-only yoga class at the dorm.  The group meets every Sunday afternoon from 3;00-4:00.

They focus their time on learning new yoga poses and stretches, and Sarah always invites new members, although as most students are Chinese, Sarah gives instructions in Chinese when she explains how to do each yoga stance.

Sarah has been practicing yoga for almost four years now, as she used to work with a yoga teacher back in her hometown. She enjoyed it so much that she wanted to bring the experience to her friends.

“She is too funny to be a leader; she is wonderful, she is perfect,” said one student in the class.

Ten girls have signed up and attend when they can. The class usually has at least five or six people for a session. Recruiting people was not an issue for her at all.

“I told them that they would look as beautiful as me if they started doing my class,” Sun said.

Sarah makes sure the atmosphere is always very calming. She sets up music playing in the background and keeps her voice to a minimum to get the full effect. She enjoys teaching the class very much and hasn’t run into any challenges just yet.

“If I ever do not know any poses, I ask my teacher,” Sun said.

She always has poses or techniques prepared depending on the week. Her friends all support her in this process, so it is more of something fun to do altogether than a class.

Although they do run into some trouble if a pose is too hard for the rest of the group; but it also makes for the best memories during the class. There are many benefits of doing yoga, but it is mostly just for herself and others to learn something new, and have fun while doing it.

This class is for anyone who would like to try something different in a relaxed setting and knows how to speak Chinese. Sarah always invites new people to join her class.