2nd On-campus Yoga Lesson (2023/2/22)
The 2nd on-campus yoga lesson was held for both Japanese and international students and our staff on February 22nd in English. Ms. Mika Takada of the International Student Affairs Section once again instructed the students and staff for about 45minutes and this was followed by a get-to-know session where international students and staff moved around and got to know each other.
CISS's Robert King (UEA) opened the event asking participants to hydrate and beware of the body as they follow the instructor's explanation, and soon turned the lesson over to Ms. Takada, who then talked about some of the basics of yoga, such as correct breathing, etc.
The lesson began with an explanation of the sun salutation pose, which was at the center of this yoga lesson. The sun salutation pose is actually a sequence of basic yoga poses and the participants followed Ms. Takada's instructions as they moved through the individual poses while paying close attention to their form and breathing. She continued to demonstrate the moves while pointing details from foot and hand positions to where to focus your line of sight to help everyone, both new and returning participants, to quietly concentrate inwardly on their body.
After the lesson finished, participants broke into 3 small groups, introducing themselves, talking about the event and talking about life at NAIST. After 5 minutes or so, two students from each group moved to another group (this was done twice) so that everyone had a chance to meet and talk with each other. Both students who already knew each other and those who didn't talked about various topics and slowly relaxed as they got to know each other. There were many students who participated in the first event as well, and the participants expressed their hopes that the yoga lesson will be a regularly held event. CISS and the international offices hope to hold more athletic/sports events for students so that they develop ties across campus while exercising for their health.
