The South Campus Recreation Center hosted an Earth Day Sunrise Yoga event Wednesday, April 22 on their outdoor turf at 6:15 a.m. The participants moved through sunrise salutation poses in the brisk dawn weather to celebrate Earth Day.
Chelsea Crane, the session instructor and an integrated marketing and communications graduate student from Middlebury, Conn., believes starting Earth Day with yoga is aptly grounding and prepares participants to mindfully navigate the day.
“Because it’s Earth Day, we wanted to do a sunrise yoga session,” Crane said. “This turf space has a great view of the sunrise, so I thought it would be a really great way to start everyone’s day.”
Crane gained her certification last year but has been practicing yoga from a young age.
“I’ve been into yoga my whole life,” Crane said. “I started as a small child, then when I was 16, I really fell in love with it, and it became an integral part of my life. I’m a very chaotic person, so finding something that I can ground myself in and also grow in is very important to me.”
Piper McBrayer, a sophomore exercise science major from Fort Worth, Texas, values the physical aspects of yoga.
“I am always really sore, so (yoga) helps me and my muscles not be tense anymore,” McBrayer said. “I wanted to get my body moving early, and I love the sunrise, so it’s a good excuse.”
Conner Campbell, a freshman international studies and economics major from Ocean Springs, Miss., enjoyed the celebratory Earth Day class with her friends.
“Yoga is a great way to stretch your body, but also it’s not too strenuous if you choose an easier class,” Campbell said. “I love yoga because it’s grounding, so I like to do it in the morning. My friends and I thought it would be fun to come out for Earth Day. We had a lot of fun, the music was great, and it was awesome to get outside.”
Catherine Reid, a freshman marketing major from Cyprus, Texas, enjoys how yoga and pilates complement each other.
“I really love all of the stretching and balancing that comes with yoga,” Reid said. “I also love pilates and getting to do things that connect my body to my mind, anything wellness-related.”
Abby Tew, an accounting Ph.D student from Jackson, Miss., finds that yoga helps balance other forms of exercise.
“I do yoga just to stay in shape and stretch,” Tew said. “I like to run and sometimes I feel like I need to stretch out and reverse the constant pounding. I came today to make myself get up early and ground myself.”
Above all, Crane said, yoga is an exercise in gratitude.
“I like to bring these very grounding techniques and just the ability to move our bodies,” Crane said. “We’re so fortunate, anyone that can move their body. I think it’s a real blessing in life, and just bringing that to a space is really important.”
