How on-campus yoga opens up the body and the mind

At the Student Wellness Center (SWC), yoga class offers more than just physical flexibility. It’s a chance to reset your mind, body and spirit, all while finding peace in the present moment. 

Yoga is one of six all-inclusive group fitness classes offered at the SWC. Signing up is a simple two-step process: find the group fitness sign-up page on the MSU website and choose a time slot that works best for you.

Jenna Templeton, a junior kinesiology student, teaches yoga at the SWC on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 6:30 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. Templeton began her personal yoga journey in June of 2022. Two months later, she began working towards a yoga certification, allowing her to lead yoga courses. By the fall of 2024, she started teaching her own classes on campus. 

According to Templeton, yoga allows her to feel more present from moment to moment. “When I started practicing yoga, I never found myself forgetting, like, did I forget to lock my car? I just feel like I’m always in my body, I remember things better, I’m just so much more present in my everyday life,” she said.

Though Templeton’s class revolves around yoga, it also has a meditative aspect. While yoga brings physical challenges for her students, meditation brings on a new set of obstacles. 

“We’re always moving and constantly going in our everyday lives — to be able to sit there and not move is sometimes really uncomfortable for people to do,” she said. “Just overcoming the feeling of just sitting with yourself and your thoughts is one of the biggest challenges of meditation and breath-work.”

Kelly Knight, an associate professor and trauma researcher at MSU, began her own mindfulness journey through meditation and shares Templeton’s beliefs regarding its potential benefits. “I think the very first thing I noticed was the rest I could experience. I just felt deep rest,” she said. “It gave me a lot of insight. I started to gain a better sense of how to move forward with what I wanted my goals and life to be.”  

Knight, who has published several works focusing on mindfulness, explained its connection to yoga and meditation. “For me, mindfulness is paying attention on purpose,” she said. “Yoga and meditation, those two things are a practice of mindfulness, and there’s lots of ways to do that, to feel that.” 

Knight emphasized the value of having a personalized approach to mindfulness. “Everyone’s nervous system has the potential to be a little different, and we want to be mindful of that and take that into account,” she said. 

Knight also believes that mindfulness can, and should, bleed into the rest of our lives. “The thing about mindfulness is that everything can be a mindfulness practice. We can exercise mindfully. We can eat mindfully. We can socialize mindfully. A lot of students probably unintentionally experience mindfulness when they ski or snowboard.” 

For Mira Corum, a frequent attendee of Templeton’s classes, yoga is important for her mindfulness journey. “I have a pretty stressful schedule. Yoga is what centers me and keeps me doing something active when I don’t have time for other things. I think yoga is really fun and relaxing and it’s a great way to balance my schedule,” she said. “I would say that yoga is a big part of my success and transition into college.” 

Additionally, former track athlete Damien Nelson shared that, although he experienced an initial discomfort in his practice, he found yoga unexpectedly beneficial. “At first, it was very uncomfortable, just because being a male and doing yoga — that’s not something I ever intended to do in my life. But, I think it’s nice just to let your thoughts kind of flow in a relaxed setting and just ground yourself and let everything go,” he said.

For students who may feel inspired but hesitant to join a class, Templeton encouraged everyone to participate. “Yoga is for everyone. Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself on the mat. I promise that everyone else is too busy thinking about themselves to notice if you fall out of a balancing posture or anything. It’s a really welcoming environment, and I promise you won’t regret it,” she said.

To find out more about all the group fitness classes offered at the SWC, visit https://mycampusrec.montana.edu/Program?classificationId=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000026002. Yoga is offered every day of the week except Sundays and is held in the Mind Body Suite.