The Yoga Study: the effects of Yoga on the super-stressed senior

This whole project started with one realization. My life is a whirlwind and I am something resembling organized chaos. I’m a fortunate woman. I have my health, a college education, I play lacrosse for a living, I’ve got wonderful friends and a stellar family—I have all the joys a girl could ask for, but something still isn’t right. This feeling led me to examine my current situation in efforts to fix that something…

I am a student facing what at times seems like an inescapable and highly threatening May graduation. Inevitably, then, this means that although I have yet to feel the joyous tides of my college days recede, I can see the waves of tomorrow rolling in-- steadily. Am I excited? Absolutely. Am I terrified? Absolutely. And I worry so much. Will I make it after graduation? What am I going to do after graduation? What do I want to do after graduation? Law school, massage school, utilize the professional and technical writing degree I’ve worked so hard for and paid so much to receive? Oh, I worry. I worry that I found ODU’s Career Management Center too late and that had I started earlier I would’ve known more clearly the direction I needed to go; I would’ve been more confident in my resume, more assured that it was error free. I worry that I'll graduate and still not feel comfortable and ready for life after undergrad. I worry, I worry, I worry that it all won’t pay off. A common term for this is anxiety. I’m not certain its unique to me, but goodness, I would like to live a life absent such a draining emotion.

I’m looking to feel comfortable with my physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being prior to making these lifetime decisions. I’m looking to change the way I relate to myself and others. I’m looking for stillness. I’m looking for inner peace. Students, I hope this will encourage you to think outside the box and to utilize your resources to create the credit you need or the internship you’ve always wanted. Faculty, I hope this offers insight into the minds of at least one of your students—I cannot claim to speak for us all, but I am feeling fortunate to offer perspective. To all, if this seems absolutely absurd for you, I encourage you to hang with me. If all goes as planned, this will be a process of tremendous growth. I realize this may not be of personal interest to you, but fellow students, faculty, and staff I hope somehow this will inspire you.

THE LOGISTICS:
In order to graduate, I must complete at least 7 credits. My two English classes total 6, leaving me one final credit. My only option: "career exploration," where Wednesday mornings would leave me 'blackboarding,' dry writing, and figuring my options as an English major. While I do not doubt this class would benefit me, it was a far cry from what I wanted my last semester in college to look like. Confident in my academic experience at ODU, I wanted something that would satisfy a different type of learning. I needed something that would satisfy my new taste for intrinsic inquiry. True, I’ve learned invaluable life lessons as I’ve progressed throughout my four years here. And yes, I feel as though I’ve journeyed enough to become a confident woman. I'm just still looking for something...
I feel as though it's important to note that my questions are not about capability. My time at ODU has prepared me adequately. I find adventure in moving here or moving there and I am confident that I will excel in my professional endeavors. What then is the very thing I feel like I’m missing? What is that something? The answer as mentioned earlier was something everyone longs for—inner peace. That said, I left behind “career explorations” and started searching out how I could achieve one credit and work towards my goal of inner peace. I felt so strongly about the seriousness of obtaining inner peace, I had to find an option that would help propel me towards this goal. True, I could look inward on my own time, but with the wicked stress and workload personal time was becoming harder to find. Somehow, I needed this one credit to become mandatory personal time. Out of necessity comes resolution.

HOW THE CREDIT CAME TO BE: As noted, I was mad sick of stress and way too grumpy about my sore muscles assaulting me during practice. The daily headaches needed to subside. Was life and stress really getting to me, free-spirited me, so much? Again, I know its something all senior student-athletes go through, but goodness, letting myself feel like a rowboat in a perfect storm was simply not my style.

It struck just like a movie on the back of my eyelids, Hot House Yoga emblazoned itself into my consciousness.
I want to study the effects of yoga on my body, mind, and spirit. I am a student, an athlete, and a woman entangled and currently very stifled by the aforementioned stresses. In my fist experience with yoga, I felt liberated... could I feel this again? And if so, would an older, more mature sense of self lead me to deeper, more penetrating results. Could yoga, like I've heard before, lead me to a new path of peace and calm? It was worth a try.

TO PARAPHRASE GREATLY:
Dear Old Dominion:
Can I please do this study? Blog for you? Can I please be the product of my own research? May I use my experience with Hot House Yoga for credit? Please? Yes, I'm serious.
Love your almost graduated, super stressed out, can’t wait for lacrosse season to begin, kind of sad to be graduating, but excited all the while, senior,
Sara

Thank you 105 degree, 40% humidified Hot House Yoga and thank you to the Yax family for sponsoring this learning experience… and thank you Old Dominion, Alice Jones, and Joyce Neff for letting me explore, inquire, and become the results of this study. Thank you for letting this be an entirely new type of “resume builder.” Thank you for awarding me a new classroom, and a new teacher. Thank you for recognizing my need to explore this intrinsic inquiry. Thank you all for advocating holistic wellness.

And thank you for letting me share with you, reader, whoever you are.

In efforts to document this influence, I will journal my sessions, experiences, and emotions throughout the process.

Here's to a better me. Here's to a you.

The mind is everything, what you think you become. -Buddah