Yoga for 60+ Millennials at the University of Bohol

Location : VDT Advanced Learning Center (University of Bohol), Tagbilaran (city), Bohol (province), Philippines
Yoga & Fitness Website: YOGA by Gigit

Yoga Invite
After giving a talk to 11^th graders at the University of Bohol about my philosophy and spirituality, I was asked again by UB faculty, Mehul, if I can conduct a yoga class for a bigger audience...around 60 students, all of them first timers. Of course, I said Yes!

Logistics
60 people demand more logistics. Will people at the back hear and see me? I may need a hands-free mic. Do we have enough space for everyone? Since not all will have a yoga mat, we will do mostly standing poses. Do they have enough elbow room so that if one falls, there is no domino effect? Since they will be on a tiered classroom with limited space in front of them, how do I modify the poses? A lot of questions were racing inside my head. It wasn't as simple as showing up and conducting my usual class.

What Yoga is Not
Since all of them were first timers, it was an opportune time for me to lay down a strong foundational cornerstone from which they can deepen a guilt-free practice. First and foremost, I had to dispel a lot of myths about yoga - that it's not about that stunning Instagram pretzel pose, that you don't need to be sexy wearing Lululemon apparel, that it's not about worshipping a new God, etc. There are so many cobwebs that had to be cleared-up specially in a country steeped into Catholicism.

What Yoga Is
Ask any yoga teacher what yoga is and you get many different answers. I have my own based on what I've read, based on my own practice and based on my life experience outside the mat. I could write a whole book about yoga. But for these first-timers I wanted to narrow it down to three basic things - the pose itself, the breath and the mind. Without all those three components working into a harmonious symphony, I would not call it yoga. Perhaps it's just stretching.

I spent a great deal of time on the theory part. It was ok not to have too much time on the asanas for as long as they get the whole mechanics of stretching all the way to their safety edge in full compliance to the breath while being mindful and not reactive to all the body sensations they can observe. It was imperative to get that nailed-down before doing all the asanas.

Teenage First Timers
Most of the mixed-gender students were 10th and 11th graders who were in their teens - 15 to 18. They were excitable with lots of energy to spare. Despite my plea to keep still and focus within, they couldn't help minding their neighbors. It was an effort explaining things when a good number of them were having their own conversation. Maybe it's this millennial short attention-span I was dealing with. Of course there is always the funny guy who had to crack a funny quip making everyone laugh. It's all good - they are teenagers who do teenager stuff.

Ending Thoughts
First, I'm glad it's their first yoga class and I was their teacher. I was able to establish a firm cornerstone for the practice - synchronization of the indivisible 3 (asana, breath and mindfulness). There were no bad habits to unlearn. I hope it sinks in. I don't think any of them would take the practice seriously at this point, but at least, I was able to give them a good basics if they ever pursue it.

Secondly, and perhaps this is an unfair statement, but increasingly, having conducted yoga classes to people spanning a broad age horizon, I feel yoga is better appreciated by people who have already ran the gauntlet of life - graduated school, worked, family, kids, stressed-out, betrayed, fired, divorced, lost a loved one, on a crossroad, etc. The more life dished-out at them, the more they appreciate yoga. But for a bunch of kids untested by life whose hormones dictate the order of the day, they'd be better off studying hard and partying hard. Later on in life, they can always find room for yoga.

Again, thank you Mehul for the opportunity.

--- Gigit (TheLoneRider)
YOGA by Gigit | Learn English | Travel like a Nomad | Donation Bank

University of Bohol Blogs

1. Yoga for 60+ Students at the University of Bohol Oct 4, 2017
2. Talk on Philosophy and Spirituality to 11^th Graders at the University of Bohol Sep 27, 2017
3. Judging a Student Debate at the University of Bohol Sept 15, 2017

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Bohol Google Map

Bohol, Philippines

tourist attractions

• Danao Adventure Park - zip lining, cable car ride, caving, river rides/trekking, off-road buggy ride, root climbing, rappelling and ultra-glide rides
• Alona Beach - hub for tourists with hotels, resorts, restos, bars and dive shops
• Chocolate Hills - hills side-by-side shaped like giant Kisses chocolate
• Tarsier - pocket-sized marsupia looking like a monkey
• Balicasag Island - one of the best dive spots in the Philippines
• Loboc River - river cruise on a boat
• Anda Beach - fine white sand beach with resorts, restos and cottages, 3 hours by bus from Tagbilaran
• Cabagnow Cave Pool - brackish water pool about 5ft deep inside a limestone opening on the ground, 8 feet deep, P50
• Lamanok Island - walk on a 100m bamboo bridge on stilts to a resto area to take a boat tour to caves and nearly attractions, P300
• Combento Cave Pool - cave pool with underwater cave system, P20
• Can-umantad Falls - long narrow drop until it hits a bulbous mound spreading it into a a curtain-like water canopy and down into a splash pool
• Canawa Cold Spring - deep refreshing cold spring with developed pool area
• Firefly Tour - evening boat ride into the river to watch fireflies

hotel

• Fox & The Firefly Cottages - SUP paddle boarding, luxury riverside native cottages, mountain bike tours, SUP yoga
  Baranggay Valladolid, Loboc, Bohol
• Bohol Tropics Resort - seafront location, manicured surroundings, swimming pool, resto/bar
  0133 Graham Avenue, Brgy. Cogon, Tagbilaran, Bohol 6300
• Oasis Resort - Alona Beach location, dive center, resto / bar
  Alona Beach, Panglao, Bohol

yoga

• Jing Yoga - health & well being through yoga
  The Courtyard - Airport Road fronting the church
  Bohol Meditation and Yoga Center - 2nd Floor Lim Magtajas Bldg. CPG Avenue

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