Mindful Movement
- Oct 20
- 3 min read
Written by Nicole Wloszek-Therens
How yoga can be a powerful tool to help students find balance, both in their bodies and their minds.
After her week of civil engineering courses at CSU ends, sophomore Saja Malkieh looks forward to her weekend nighttime routine that helps her stay grounded in more ways than one.
Malkieh rolls out a yoga mat on her bedroom floor and starts her playlist of the “Interstellar” soundtrack. The orchestral composition of Hans Zimmer fills the room as she checks her form in the mirror held up by her closet door. She follows along with a YouTube yoga instructor who guides her from one pose to the next.
Malkieh has been practicing yoga on and off since she was in high school. Last year, she bought her own yoga mat. This semester, she has started practicing yoga during the breaks in her busy weekdays with a group fitness class at the CSU Recreation Center.
“It’s nice because I have a break,” Malkieh said. “After, I feel like ‘Okay, I can go get things done. I got my energy out and I’m ready to finish the rest of my day.’”
Malkieh is one of many students who have experienced both mental and physical benefits from integrating a yoga practice into their college life.
“It’s very calming, but it’s a workout,” Malkieh said, “and it doesn’t feel like I’m doing a 45-minute workout. It feels like I’m just moving; I’m flowing; every part of my body is just kind of doing what it needs to do.”
A 2023 study by the National Institutes of Health, which focused on college students’ yoga practices, found that perceived stress is the top reported hindrance to well-being and academic success. A sample group of students followed a course on yoga and meditation, resulting in improved physical performance, reduced perceived stress, acceptance of oneself, better well-being and improved coping.
Kristine Fondran has been practicing yoga since the late 90s. While pursuing her graduate studies in education and exercise science in 2006, she started teaching yoga at Cleveland State University. She currently teaches in the style of Satyananda yoga.
“Yoga is very vast,” Fondran said. “This style is unique because it integrates the postures, the breathing practices and various meditations.”
Satyananda yoga is more of a meditational form of yoga, focusing equally on the mind and the body. According to the Yoga Academy of North America, it is a system of yoga taught as a way to enhance physical health, mental peace and emotional harmony. The practice was developed over fifty years ago by Swami Satyananda.
“There’s a lot of inner awareness that’s focused upon,” Fondrain said. “Practitioners become more aware of their own inner workings, how their mind works. First, they become more aware of their body, and then their mind.”
Meditational styles of yoga can be especially beneficial for students. Every semester, Fondrain asks her students to take a confidential questionnaire. She found that each time, over 40% of students report that they are either suffering from anxiety or depression.
“Gen Z has so much anxiety. Our world, in general, throws so much at us, but there are things we can do to manage all of it,” Fondrain said. “You need as many opportunities to slow down, connect with yourself and connect with your mind.”
Fondrain said yoga offers college students an opportunity to slow down and connect – even if they don’t stick with it, it’s worth a try.
“It’s a tool. We all need tools,” Fondrain said. “People might take a yoga class and say, ‘It's not for me,’ but it's one more opportunity to find something to manage your body and your mind.”
Yoga is made accessible for college students through instructional videos online, classes available through CSU, and weekly group yoga sessions held at the CSU Recreation Center.
“There are so many videos and there’s so many apps, but I do recommend having a real live teacher,” Fondrain said. “There is a lot of opportunity to meet everyone where they are.”
Back at Malkieh’s bedroom yoga practice, she thinks about the week ahead and her upcoming Thursday group session. She said she had originally been intimidated to start group fitness at CSU’s Recreation Center, but now Malkieh suggests the weekly classes to her peers.
“It really is for everyone and it's such a good way to de-stress,” Malkieh said. “You don’t need a specific starting place; bring sweatpants, leggings, whatever. Even if you lose balance, just pick your foot back up, and you’ll be fine.”
