The Department of Exercise Science is offering 13 yoga classes to accommodate the number of students clamoring to learn the ancient spiritual practice. While students could go virtually anywhere in this city to take a yoga class, GW offers the truly passionate something different - the opportunity to learn how to become a yoga instructor and earn two credits at the same time.
"At the time I started teaching yoga in 2001, yoga was just starting to grow in popularity," said Coordinator for Exercise, Research and Services Jacqueline Johnson, who created the Yoga Instructor Preparation course almost three years ago for the School of Public Health and Health Services.
"We did not have enough teachers to teach classes, so we asked the department if we could have this course, so we could supply the demand," she said.
Johnson, who also teaches the class, said enrollment is kept small, with around eight students taking the course at any given time.
"We keep enrollment low because we want more one-on-one time with the students," she said.
The two-credit class meets once a week for two hours, this semester on Fridays from 3 to 5 p.m. The students practice yoga during each class, and Johnson shows her students how to properly teach the different positions. The students also read textbooks on yoga postures and human anatomy, and are required to do 30 minutes of yoga practice on their own each day, and complete 15 hours of assistant teaching in a yoga class over the course of the semester.
Johnson's class focuses on her favorite type of yoga, Sivananda, which focuses heavily on meditation and full breathing. But the Yoga Instructor Preparation course touches upon several different types of yoga, such as Vinyasa and Ashtanga. Today, there are around 20 main schools of contemporary yoga.
"For this course we want (the students) to get exposure to different styles, and have them decide what they want to continue with," Johnson said.
"At the time I started teaching yoga in 2001, yoga was just starting to grow in popularity," said Coordinator for Exercise, Research and Services Jacqueline Johnson, who created the Yoga Instructor Preparation course almost three years ago for the School of Public Health and Health Services.
"We did not have enough teachers to teach classes, so we asked the department if we could have this course, so we could supply the demand," she said.
Johnson, who also teaches the class, said enrollment is kept small, with around eight students taking the course at any given time.
"We keep enrollment low because we want more one-on-one time with the students," she said.
The two-credit class meets once a week for two hours, this semester on Fridays from 3 to 5 p.m. The students practice yoga during each class, and Johnson shows her students how to properly teach the different positions. The students also read textbooks on yoga postures and human anatomy, and are required to do 30 minutes of yoga practice on their own each day, and complete 15 hours of assistant teaching in a yoga class over the course of the semester.
Johnson's class focuses on her favorite type of yoga, Sivananda, which focuses heavily on meditation and full breathing. But the Yoga Instructor Preparation course touches upon several different types of yoga, such as Vinyasa and Ashtanga. Today, there are around 20 main schools of contemporary yoga.
"For this course we want (the students) to get exposure to different styles, and have them decide what they want to continue with," Johnson said.
