Rec-Plex Yoga Classes Offer Varying Styles For Full Workout

Living and working in today’s world certainly presents challenges.

Economic malaise, high energy costs, challenging work environments, and the pressures of raising children in two-income households can increase stress levels. In a 2010 study from the American Psychological Association nearly half of Americans—42 percent—reported that their stress level had increased compared to a survey in the previous year, according to a report.

The study also reported that half of Americans are worried about providing for their families’ needs and eight and 10 say the economy is a significant cause of stress. The study also said lying awake at night, anger, fatigue, and muscular tension are symptoms of stress overload. To cope with the problems of the modern world some are turning to the past and using the ancient art of Yoga. 

“Most people turn to this for the relaxation it provides,” St. Peters-based Yoga Instructor Cheryl Turano said. “Many in this day and age feel so stressed out and many doctors recommend yoga for relaxation and to reduce blood pressure.” 

Turano started teaching fitness 30 years ago. She’s taught different forms of exercise over the years and started teaching yoga eight years ago; her yoga classes at the last 60 minutes. In one session students will perform 20 to 25 poses—stances that yoga students perform in conjunction with breathing.

While she does tout the relaxation Yoga provides, Turano also believes in yoga’s fitness value.

“People think of this as an easy form of exercise,” she said. “But they find out that they’ll use muscles that they don’t normally use. Yoga concentrates on deeper muscles.” 

Yoga also requires one to structure his or her breathing, said Turano. Each pose requires students take two to three breaths. Connecting breathing with the body allows the practitioner to connect his or her mind with the body, said Turano.

The emphasis on breathing makes yoga a different form of exercise.

“When you leave the room you usually have more energy than when you came in,” Turano said.

Turano said there are millions of forms of yoga, but she’s chosen to teach the vinyasa form, which concentrates on movement. Turano firmly believes that practitioners eat a nutritious diet and perform other forms of exercise.

Students in Turano’s classes range in age from teenagers to men and women their 70s. The young are attracted to yoga out of curiosity while the elderly are drawn to it because it helps develop flexibility, said Turano.   

Rebecca Lanctat—a St. Peters resident—also teaches yoga at the St. Peters Rec-Plex. Students in her 60-minute classes learn hatha yoga, which Lanctat describes as more physical than meditative.

“It still provides a mental release,” Lanctat said. “Students have to hold one pose for a long period of time.”

The yoga instructor has taught professional football players and other athletes looking to increase their flexibility as well as more typical students who are looking to improve their fitness or lose weight.  

In addition, Lanctat has encountered students who are having problems with medical ailments such as arthritis, joint pain, high blood pressure, muscular tension, and stress. Her classes include 25 or more poses; each session exercises all of the body’s muscle groups.  

“I’ve never had anyone say after a class that they don’t feel good,” Lanctat said. “This isn’t anything like a cardio(vascular) workout but you will feel like you’ve worked out.”

Lanctat has completed more than 200 hours of yoga training and more than 1,000 hours of teaching. She’s worked in the fitness industry for 15 years as a yoga instructor and as a personal trainer and a step-aerobics instructor.

“From the time I took my first yoga class, I knew this was something I wanted to share with students,” she said.

Lanctat said she’s seen enrollment in yoga classes grow more than the other classes she teaches. Like Turano, she recommends practitioners use yoga as a compliment to other forms of fitness they practice.