Ever since starting Rise almost 3 years ago, we have always wanted to expand our ministry beyond fitness. Our athletes love coming to class, socializing, and getting stronger along the way. But we’ve always thought, how can we help benefit our athletes beyond fitness? In the past, we’ve had several families come and ask us about offering yoga classes. Everyone’s specific situation was different, but many said that their child had grown out or was too old to attend yoga. This sparked a lightbulb in our heads. Coach Sarah did some research about yoga and all of the benefits it has on the body and mind, and while researching, she found out about the Asanas for Autism and Special Needs yoga certificate program. The rest was history.
Coach Sarah and I got enrolled in the course in September and it took us around two weeks to complete the whole class. We attended a total of four virtual classes with people all across the United States and they all had different plans about how they were going to use the certificate, but ultimately, their end goal was to help out the community. The person who runs Asanas, Shawnee Thornton Hardy, had some really good insight on how to make yoga beneficial for people of all abilities. It was really interesting learning new yoga poses and their meanings. It was also interesting learning about the proprioceptive, (where your body is in space) vestibular (maintaining balance), and crossing the midline (strengthening the left and right hemispheres of the brain).
I’ll be honest, I’ve always been a fitness guru, and never really knew too much about yoga. I always thought that it was more of a feminine thing. But after learning all of the benefits it has for the body long term, I will definitely have to start doing it more myself. Research shows that yoga decreases stress, improves flexibility, improves sleep, and makes your posture better. It has been so much fun teaching and demonstrating yoga poses and although we have a small class now, we’re hoping to expand upon it in the foreseeable future. We would love to see you on the yoga mat! As we like to say at the end of our yoga classes, everyone is unique, loved, and will shine their inner light.