Students link yoga with service for stress relief

Shea Wright didn't really know what to expect when she first registered for YES+. Wright, sophomore biochemistry major, only knew she had too much stress in her life.


YES+, a weeklong yoga workshop offered to Seattle University students and Seattle area residents, not only challenged its participants to stretch their limbs but also reach out to the community.


George Makarenko, Seattle U graduate student and president of the Yoga and Service club on campus helped bring the Art of Living Foundation-sponsored workshop called Yoga-Empowerment-Service Plus (YES+) to Seattle U. Two instructors, Jameelah Carver and Rachana Rathi, taught a group of nine participants between the ages of 18 and 30 how to deal with stressful situations through yoga, different breathing techniques and self-awareness.

In turn, participants brainstormed about their own community service project to share what they learned from YES+. Members of the workshop decided to make greeting cards for community members.


The program costs $250 per person, with a few scholarships available for students who demonstrate financial need and who demonstrate need for the course for personal reasons. The workshop costs go toward course supplies, funding the nonprofit organization, scholarships and its future programs for students.

During each class session, Carver and Rathi taught breathing and meditation techniques from India designed to help class members focus on the present, rather than worry about the past or future.


Other parts of the workshop address stress caused by school, social environments and everyday life. Instructors teach studying strategies to decrease these tensions in their lives. Group discussion topics range from the current education system to healthy lifestyle habits and human reliance on different sources of energy.


"We want to teach them how to find peace within and share that with others," Makarenko said.


The Seattle U participants made a stack of Thanksgiving cards to hand out to senior citizens. They also made a stack of "random acts of kindness" cards that they handed out to random people in Capitol Hill and around campus. The cards listed nice things the recipients could do for other random people, who would then do the same for someone else.


"I'm really glad I did it," said Raissa Licano-Sanchez, sophomore humanities for teaching major. "It made me want to do more."


The instructors show the participants how to be self-aware about their reactions to certain situations, how to gain an inner peace and how to have true freedom of choice. They hope that these skills won't only benefit students now, but that they will also be applied in the future.


Makarenko has taught at other YES+ sessions and practices what he teaches. He started doing yoga and practicing breathing techniques his senior year as an undergraduate student and has been practicing every day since then.


Makarenko said he hopes students who participate in YES+ will do this as well, until it becomes so natural that the little stresses in life don't impact them as much.


Every participant in this month's YES+ session said they benefited somehow.
"I really liked [the course]," Wright said. "I've slept a lot better and really enjoy the calmness I've been given. I want to continue on with the meditation practices."


"The breathing practices have been a huge help," said Susan Tipton, an AmeriCorps volunteer. "I've felt such a huge difference in a really short amount of time."


The next YES+ workshop on campus will be held from Jan. 19 to Jan. 24.


Kat may be reached at acatlett@su-spectator.com