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Yoga Yodas create calm and improve mental fitness at UFS

20 August 2019 | Story Valentino | Photo Pexels

Are you always anxious and exhausted? Consider for a moment what you can do to break your hectic routine. Maybe stay in bed and binge-watch a series? Or what about joining a yoga class? Let us imagine for a moment that you have opted for the latter. What could possibly be the results of such a choice?

According to Psychology Today, there is a growing body of research to back up yoga’s mental health benefits. “Yoga increases body awareness, relieves stress, reduces muscle tension, strain and inflammation, sharpens attention and concentration, and calms and centres the nervous system.”

Since the beginning of the year, a group of students has been practising yoga on the lawns of the Bloemfontein Campus at the University of the Free State (UFS). At first the group comprised students from the Office for International Affairs’ Umoja Buddy Programme, but it has since expanded to include the general student population.

Strength and stamina from body to mind
They call themselves “"Yoga Yodas”. Their instructor, Dominique de Kock, says she has witnessed an increased level of calmness and relaxation among the group, which has had a positive effect on their academic performance and mental wellbeing.

Given the anxiety academics can create among some students, yoga is a proven method of achieving a state of positive mindfulness. “Yoga is great for when you are stressed out. Give yourself an hour to just be at peace, relax your mind and practise meditation which is not spiritually tied to any religion,” says De Kock.

Mental health and self-care go hand in hand. Find out more on yoga's positive benefits on mental health and wellbeing, by watching the video below:

News Archive

Young researchers shine during the international Afromontane Colloquium

2017-07-18

From the left, are: Drs Reetu Sogani (India),
Greg Greenwood (US-Switzerland), Teboho Manchu,
Acting Campus Principal, Drs Jianchu Xu (China),
Henri Rueff (Switzerland), Glen Taylor, Senior Director:
Research Development; and Dr Elsa Crause,
Campus Vice-Principal: Academic and Research.
Photo: Thabo Kessah

The University of the Free State’s Afromontane Research Unit (ARU), which is situated on the Qwaqwa Campus, has the potential to produce some of the world’s best and dynamic young researchers. This is the view shared by Drs Henri Rueff and Reetu Sogani, who were the keynote speakers during the ARU Colloquium hosted at Golden Gate in the Eastern Free State.

Dr Rueff, a geographer and environmental economist from the Universities of Basel and Bern in Switzerland, was referring to no less than ten Qwaqwa Campus postgraduate students who made oral and poster presentations during the inaugural international colloquium.

Colloquium an opportunity to interact
“You have some of the world’s most motivated and highly skilled students who have the courage to stand in front of extremely critical scientists from all over the globe – and that must be commended,” he said.

Dr Reetu Sogani from India said that her first trip to South Africa did not disappoint. “This colloquium was a very good learning experience for me as I had the opportunity to interact with brilliant and young scientists from this part of the world,” she added.

In closing the colloquium, the Senior Director: Research Development, Dr Glen Taylor, committed the UFS to the success of the unit.

“The ARU will strengthen the research output of the campus. But most important of all, it is setting the research agenda for the Qwaqwa Campus, and for the institution at large, to address the challenges that the surrounding mountain communities are faced with,” he said.

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