Free yoga on campus is cultivating community and wellness

For Nanu Iyer, professor and program director for the Integrated Strategic Communications Program at WSU Vancouver, yoga is a lifelong practice that began at age four, taught by his father. The memory of those early lessons was rekindled following his father’s passing in 2021. Iyer got certified during the pandemic and began offering free yoga classes on the WSUV campus in 2022.

The yoga classes, held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. in the fitness center located in the basement of the Library Building (VLIB), are open to all current students and faculty. The holistic mind-body practice of yoga is what Iyer finds most important for the WSUV community. His goal is to make the classes accessible to everyone, and this includes having yoga mats that you can borrow available in the Fitness Center. 

Iyer emphasizes the importance of taking an hour for oneself to de-stress from school or work, and he believes that there are benefits such as focus, discipline, and stress reduction from practicing yoga. He sees the yoga classes as another form of education. 

“Learning doesn’t only have to be intellectual. It can be physical, mental, emotional, and mindful,” says Iyer.

The classes begin at noon, with participants taking deep breaths and focusing inward, unfazed by the sounds of the bustling fitness center just outside of the room. 

Benjamin Marchi, a social sciences major, uses the yoga class to slow down from his demanding schedule of seven classes and a job. A former wildland firefighter, Marchi was introduced to yoga in high school and finds the practice helps his back and encourages him to “slow down.” He describes the decompressing aspect of yoga as “very meditative.”

Dene Grigar, professor and WSU Vancouver Campus Lead of the Digital Technology and Culture Program, has practiced yoga for 48 years. She credits the practice with helping her manage hyperactivity and shares that she has had powerful, mind-altering experiences through meditation.

“I grew up in the seventies. I was an athlete, and I never did drugs, but I have hallucinated meditating. I don’t need to drop acid. I can just meditate,” states Grigar.

The free yoga classes offer a significant financial benefit. Iyer provides the same quality of instruction found in local private studios or gyms, where a single drop-in class can cost between $20 and $40 each time. Iyer’s weekly yoga classes have no limit, and they begin the second week of the semester and continue until the week of finals. Classes are offered during the fall and spring semesters. 

Iyer expresses that “Yoga on campus offers a chance for students to utilize the university as a place to build community, not just a destination for attending classes and going home.”