Yoga demo promotes healthy living at festival
By: James Jiang
Issue date: 10/21/08 Section: News
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The demo was organized by Amiee Constantopoulos, a yoga and aqua aerobics instructor at ENMU, along with some of her students.
Constantopoulos also invited her yoga teacher Lorelei Taylor, the yoga program instructor at the KENW TV station, as a special treat.
According to Constantopoulos she lead her students through a vinyasa flow, a type of yoga that uses a specific sequence of breath-synchronized movements to transition between postures; it is basically the linking of body movement and breath.
Taylor also did some hatha flow yoga with her students. Hatha flow is a lot like Vinyasa except the poses are held for a longer period of time.
"We wanted to share our love of Yoga and promote (a) healthy way of life to all of the people in Portales," said Constantopoulos. "I have been practicing Yoga for 10 years and it has become a way of life. Yoga improves one's flexibility, strength, posture (and) lung capacity through breathing exercises."
Constantopoulos added, "Yoga is also excellent for stress reduction and improving mood and concentration. Yoga has also been shown to lower blood pressure and slow the heart rate, which improves heart health."
Taylor began practicing yoga 35 years ago and has been teaching it for 25 years.
"… It helps me to keep my strength and flexibility for dancing and brings greater peace of mind," Taylor said. "I have been fortunate enough to have been able to travel to many parts of India and Indonesia, studying both yoga and dance and have studied with some of the most respected yoga teachers in the world."
Many people at ENMU practice yoga, according to Constantopoulos. She said several yoga classes are offered each semester at ENMU.