Did you know at Lindenhurst high school instead of taking a gym class you can take a yoga class as a gym credit? Mrs.Napoli is the yoga teacher for the Lindenhurst High School and the middle school! Her yoga classes are filled with students.
Are you interested in gaining mindfulness, flexibility, and strength? Mrs. Napoli’s class is perfect for just that. The 45 minute class consists of deep breathing exercises, a series of yoga poses, stretching exercises, strength movements, and a guided meditation at the end of class. She has a workout challenge every month to build strength. Last month, the challenge was to hold a plank pose. This is a pose where your core is engaged. Your hands and feet are on the ground , your face down, your arms are strengthened, and your holding yourself up. You are holding up your entire body weight on all fours. They started with holding this pose for 15 seconds, then 30, until they reached the longest hold of 1 minute. It was a challenge. They slowly worked their way up, and have been gaining strength so they can hold the pose longer and longer.
On Fridays they have “fun Friday.” There are several stations set up in the room with different poses, exercises, relaxation tools and books. Students are able to move through each station at their own pace and work with their classmates. Mrs Napoli has a set of 3 pound weights for everyone in the room; she leads them through a series of exercises for certain muscle groups. Last Friday she had students train their chest, triceps, and back muscles. She teaches them what part of the muscle they are training and how it’s important to have mind muscle connection. Mind muscle connection is where you think about the muscle you are supposed to be working, it intensifies the workout and targets that muscle. Additionally, at the end of the year they go to the weight room on Fridays to have even more strength training.
To mix it up, when the weather’s nice, Mrs. Napoli takes students outside to walk the track. Overall, this class requires a lot of strength and dedication. Her classes are filled with all different skill levels, so she has different modifications to every pose to make it harder or easier. Some yoga poses that are expected to be done almost everyday are the forward fold, downward facing dog, child’s pose, and plank pose. These names may be unknown, but her students learn them very quickly! She teaches her students the names of each pose, and what they get out of it. One example that she taught them is that forward fold pose increases mindfulness and is supposed to free your mind of negative thoughts. She promotes mindfulness and peace, especially since school can be stressful. Are you going to add yoga to your schedule next year?
