Cochrane resident Linda Hopkins is determined to get into shape this year through various physical activities; however, before partaking in any of those she is attending some yoga classes.

“I started gaining weight and have to do this (yoga) before I can enter any other kind of physical fitness to be safe,” Hopkins said after attending a session put on by local yoga instructor Jennifer Houghton.

“This is just about elongating and strengthening myself really so I can go on to do other things.”

Ten years ago, Hopkins frequented yoga classes and remembers it being a great source of exercise.

“I felt more soreness the next day — good soreness — from this than from any other jumping or running or other stuff,” she said.
Houghton, who has practiced yoga for 17 years and taught it the past four, said Hopkins’ strategy is a good one and will go a long way toward preventing injury and syncing her mind and body.

“Being mindful of what your body is doing enhances the stretch. That’s the difference between yoga and stretching,” said Houghton, who runs classes daily out of her studio located in the basement of local health food retailer the Healthy Hut.

Houghton encouraged others who may feel intimidated by yoga to give it a shot, noting that there is no right or wrong when it comes to the various poses.

“It’s really easy to get started because yoga meets you where you are,” she said. “Every pose can be modified for any level.”

Sue Alter breathes in deeply while working her back during a recent yoga session held by Cochrane instructor Jennifer Houghton. Yoga can help prevent injury and improve flexibility. Photo by Jeremy Nolais

Cochrane’s Monique Shatosky became so infatuated with the benefits of yoga that she decided to create cochraneyoga.com to foster communication between participants and instructors.

The website is now roughly two years old and features information on nine local yoga instructors, as well as tips on proper etiquette and other useful links.

“I felt there was a real disconnect between yoga participants and teachers so I wanted to create a place where people could link up,” Shatosky said. “I wasn’t even aware of the number of people that teach yoga here.”

Shatosky’s job requires her to spend long hours sitting at a computer and finds that yoga helps improve her overall flexibility and ward off common muscle strains.

Houghton noted that much of what she teaches can be put to use afterwards at home.

“You can benefit from doing five minutes or 90 minutes.”

More information can be found at flowingyogi.com.

Dean Cole, an experienced local martial artist who teaches various classes at Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre, said the exposure yoga has gained across North America in recent years is great, but cautioned against relying entirely on a single discipline of stretching.

“Yoga is extremely beneficial but isolates one part of the stretching program,” said Cole, who has taken advanced stretching classes in the past. “Yoga is a held stretch, you don’t want to be doing held stretches for too long.”

“If you have certain injuries or recurring injuries they are going to keep happening unless you elongate the muscle and yoga isn’t always able to do that.”

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