Summit yoga class looks at expanding

A student-led yoga class in Summit is gaining attention from residents.
SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

A community yoga class in the Summit residence hall taught by a USF student has increased in popularity allowing for the addition of a second class.

The class, which began as a social event for Summit residents to become acquainted with each other, has grown in popularity and is close to outgrowing its current location. The class has created a way for students to connect through exercise and the residence hall has sanctioned the use of the space.

“I mean, a part of the Summit Community Yoga is to also build and foster a community because it was started to get my residents to kind of understand and meet the people who live next to them, but it ended up… creating an entire dorm or residence hall community,” said Kate Lamppert, a sophomore majoring in music and the class instructor.

Lamppert encourages anyone interested in yoga to come to the class for a workout or a relaxing way to relieve stress. The focus of the class is flexible to the needs and interests of participants.

“It kind of changes from week to week,” Lamppert said. “I like to take a lot of feedback from my students and have them kind of run the entire session. I ask them what part of the body they want to target. I ask them if they want to have a relaxing session, if they want a power session.”

Some of the more relaxing sessions overlap with meditative practice and mindfulness that contrasts with a busy college life.

“(The other sessions) are more relaxing and very focused on just kind of following movements, but having those movements follow the breath and anchoring yourself to the breath, which anchors yourself to the moment and just kind of being present,” Lamppert said. “(The classes) are kind of built around a certain type of mindfulness and meditation that also gets kind of built in.”

Lamppert said she was drawn to yoga as an inviting, non-judgemental way into exercise. She was introduced to it by her grandmother, who taught yoga at a senior center.

“It was kind of one of those things that I ended up wanting to try when I needed a way to get fit, but didn’t automatically make me feel like a complete failure,” Lamppert said. “Because I was always flexible, it just kind of seemed like a good option for me to kind of dive down deep into — yoga kind of became a passion — sort of a means of escape from the very, very busy schedule that I have.”

Interested students do not need any prior yoga experience. They only need to become aware of how their body feels and what they might want to work on.

“There’s not a lot of reading that has to go into it,” Lamppert said. “I like to encourage being very mindful of how your body feels and also getting very in tune with what particular intention you have for that particular day. It’s more of self-reflection than really extra research that the students have to do… Getting very clear and concerned on what exactly they want to accomplish, and then it’s my job to figure out how exactly we’re going to accomplish that.”

Currently, students must have a friend in Summit who can escort them into the building to attend the class. However, a larger number of participants would warrant holding the class outside, which is open to anyone.

Those interested in participating in yoga can attend Lamppert’s classes Sunday at 8 p.m. and Thursday at 9 p.m.