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Fit for Fall

By Charlotte Gelfand

Staff Writer

As the temperatures start to cool and leaves begin to change, the signs of fall have set in. Just because summer has ended doesn’t mean the season for beach bodies has to. With the release of the fall schedule for group fitness classes, the Pratt Recreation Center provides a way for the community to stay in shape. While the price of admission is free, participants should expect to pay through some hard work and sweat.

Classes are held weekly, Monday through Friday, at Pratt and are welcome to all. The schedule features a variety of workouts ranging from high intensity TRX and spin classes to slower paced practices of yoga and pilates. To accommodate the busy schedules of students and faculty, workouts are available daily with options of morning, midday and evening sessions. Classes are taught by certified instructors, each with distinct backgrounds and training in fitness.

Angela Williams-Jones, a yoga instructor, teaches weekly one-hour yoga classes. Jones, who has taught yoga for the past ten years, specializes in both Yin (a practice of deep stretching and active recovery) and Hatha (a simpler flow with a focus on breathing). Her classes draw in a mixture of athletes, professors, students and staff, all of whom enjoy different benefits that yoga has to offer.

Some athletes, such as volleyball players Lauren Kloos and Rachel Londot, practice yoga as a team requirement. Londot, a senior criminal justice and forensics major, said, “[yoga] helps strengthen some of those little muscles that we don’t really use when we’re playing.” Kloos, a sophomore math and science major, agreed. “It helps prevent injury,” she said.

Others like Farina Bayat, a sophomore fine arts major, uses yoga to help restore her sore muscles. “Because of my major sometimes I have to sit and focus on a particular art piece for a long time, so I need to do something like yoga. It’s all about stretching and I really like that.”

“[Yoga] helps your body break through any scar tissue from previous ailments. It helps elongate the muscles and will make you more flexible,” Jones said.

Along with the physical benefits, yoga can provide much-needed mindfulness in the often hectic lives of students and faculty.

“Once you’re able to learn how to get into your breath, you’re able to focus it anywhere and everything can become a moving meditation. Whether you’re playing a game or taking a walk, whatever it is, your movement starts to connect with your breath and you’re able to still everything” Jones said.

Jones’ classes are welcome to all levels. “Don’t be shy,” Jones said, “be open and try it.”

For more information on other class schedules and workout, students can visit the Pratt help desk during regular hours.

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