You don’t need to go to an expensive studio to try yoga; there are affordable classes, right on the Truax campus. Don’t worry about not having your own cool little yoga mat like everyone else because there is a storage closet filled with candy-blue blocks and yoga mats just waiting to be used. And certified instructors guide newcomers to the ancient practice.

Tammy Sytsma is one such instructor. She started doing yoga when it was available on VHS, before DVDs were even a thing.  As a teacher she decided to take a break to pursue grad school in the mental health profession and realized that she could not let go of the feel-good benefits of yoga.

Sytsma doesn’t just teach your normal yoga class as part of general fitness, but promotes mental and physical wellness by focusing on breathing to help control anxiety and depression. It’s important for her to be at Madison College because she cares about the students, and brought up that yoga helps veterans who are going back to school as well. She teaches how to control the mind and incorporates a balance of fitness, stretching, and meditation to tap into an awareness of your body, allowing it the balance it needs in order to attain a true break from the stress of school and life.

Sytsma taught a free class this Oct. for students wanting to explore yoga. She peacefully planted in the front corner of the room, requested that the mats be placed short side facing her corner. Peaceful music from the iPad helped us relax as about fifteen sets of strangers’ eyes closed for a beginning meditation.

“Be aware of your breathing in this mediation, and as we sit here we are going to set intentions. Set your intentions as you inhale and exhale in the open space along your spin, and feel your breath moving along your spine as you set your own intentions,” Sytsma said to the meditating class.

OK all insecurities and nervousness aside, just be present. As the shifting, stretching, and movements to new positions continued it will start to feel pretty good and relaxing.

You may not be confident in holding yourself in certain positions but you will be surprised at how well you can do if you just go for it. The during, maybe not so much in some positions but the stretching will be great and the overall looseness felt in your body becomes a necessity.

It will feel better and better the as you go and the more yoga that you practice the more and more you can reap the benefits of flexibility and comfort through all the positions of downward dog, cobra, triangle, bridge poses, and many more.
Sytsma brought us back to meditation as she ended a tranquilized session with a quote from a monk named Thich Nhat Hanh, “as you inhale say I am the wave and as you exhale tell yourself I am the water.”

Yoga, whether you decide to try it today, tomorrow, or never. You may not feel like going because of the time constraints, stress, and tolling exhaustion felt from school and life. Or maybe it’s coming together to breath and find Zen with a room full of strangers, but do not be afraid. If you take the time to take care of yourself and give it a try, yoga could definitely take care of you in the mind, sprit, and body.

Sytsma encourages anybody who wants to try yoga to come in at any time and try it for free, and does have free passes for students. She teaches classes in the Health Education Building across from the Gateway at Truax in Room 131 at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and 4:30 p.m. on Thursdays. There is another instructor named Tom Syring who also teaches on Tuesdays in the same room at 4:30 p.m.