One of the most anticipated events is back again at UFV. On Thursday, Oct. 3, Glow Yoga was held for the third straight semester at UFV. Held in the North Gym at the Abbotsford campus, Glow Yoga had a great turn out. The event was free for students, but people were asked to bring a donation for UFV’s food bank. The Peer Resource and Leadership Centre was the major sponsor for this event and they brought the door prizes.
The focus of the event was on health, wellness, and community. The Mental Health Awareness Club had a table set up at the event so that students and other community members could come and ask questions about the club. Another table was set up with information about UFV’s fitness classes and sports teams.
There were a few more tables set up with glow sticks and glow paint, and many people decked themselves out in the glow paint. Everyone seemed excited about the glow aspect of the event. Local artist, DJ Elixir, was playing music throughout the event. There were hula hoops and other props decked out with glow-in-the-dark stickers that people could use and take pictures with.
The first year Glow Yoga was held, UFV’s Yoga Club and Cheryl Van Nes, program manager at campus recreation and wellness, worked in partnership to get it going. After the first year there was trouble to get it started again.
“With people graduating, the yoga club had a hard time starting up again, but people really love yoga and I really love it,” said Van Nes.
Van Nes wanted to keep Glow Yoga going so she became the event organizer for the next three times and plans to continue organizing it for now. Van Nes had anticipated a high turnout for this year’s Glow Yoga and an attendance of over 70 people set a new record for the event.
Lauren Kennedy, a first-year student in the Bachelor of Arts program, explained why she came to the event:
“I like doing yoga outside of work and school. I thought this is a fun way to meet people and seems kinda fun and to decompress. I think it’s going to be high-energy [and] that will be good because I usually do slower steps. So, it will be a nice change,” said Kennedy.
Ryna El Saudi and Jaskirat Takkar are also UFV students who came out to the event. El Saudi is in her second-year and Takkar is in his first-year at UFV. When asked about what made them come out to Glow Yoga, “She did,” Takkar said, pointing to El Saudi, who laughed.
“I got this email and I thought, okay, well I want to be participating in school stuff,” El Saudi said.
Students and community members came out to Glow Yoga to have a fun night out and to meet new people. The event started with a lively dance warm-up with Heidi Hill, UFV’s Dance Fit instructor. After the warm-up, Rebecca Marshall from Haven Yoga and Wellness lead us in a series of yoga poses.
If you like yoga, UFV provides three classes a week on both the Abbotsford and Chilliwack campuses, free to all students. The other fitness classes currently offered are Belly Dance Fit, Spin & Strength, Zumba, Dance Fit, ABS, and IHIIT. There is an Abbotsford and Chilliwack fitness schedule available online with more information at My Campus Life. Classes run from Sept. 16 – Dec. 5, 2019.
Image: David Myles/The Cascade
