Like feeling relaxed? Like feeling at peace? Lancaster High School has a yoga course that students can take instead of typical physical education courses. Students can take yoga their sophomore, junior, and senior year. LHS physical education teacher Sarah Chevalier, a certified yoga instructor, teaches the class.
According to The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, yoga is an ancient and complex practice, rooted in Indian philosophy. It began as a spiritual practice but has become popular as a way of promoting physical and mental well-being.
Yoga can benefit students in many different ways. Chevalier said that she became interested in yoga while training for various competitions.
“Initially, I decided to try yoga because I was training for a 70.3 Ironman triathlon which included a mix of weight training, swimming, biking, and running. So I mixed in yoga for something that would help me feel more relaxed as well as help with my overall flexibility and it was low impact which helped with overall recovery each week. Swimming and yoga also really helped reduce my overall soreness from lifting, running, and biking long distances,” she said.
LHS senior Aric Gee explained how he has benefited from taking the yoga class.
“What I have learned from this class is that there are ways to control your muscles and body without taking it out with anger or aggression. You can just turn on some music and just sit there and let everything go. It’s also taught me that doing these yoga poses can be relaxing and it helps with your muscles being sore,” said Gee.
According to Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, children and adolescents can benefit from practicing yoga.
“Yoga is accepted as a holistic system of practices that includes many techniques, such as physical postures, various breathing exercises, and relaxation techniques, and has shown promise in improving children’s physical and mental health” (Khunti, Kirti, et al).
So far, many students enjoyed the yoga class. LHS senior Taylor Hawk described how the class has helped her and recommends that other students think about registering for yoga classes next semester.
“The course has made me stronger and more flexible. I would say give it a try and that the class is a great experience and an easy gym credit,” she said.
LHS senior Mia Wright said that she has acquired new understanding about her body.
“I love the class. It’s very interesting and increases your ability to know your own body. I have learned many different yoga positions as well as power yoga and restorative yoga. I greatly recommend this class because of all the reasons I’ve listed above. I also recommend it because the teacher herself is really good,” stated Wright.
Right now LHS counselors are visiting classes to register for classes for the 2025-2026 school year. This time would be an excellent time to sign up for the yoga class.
