Integrating modern medical teaching and yoga therapy techniques, the Medical Yoga Club of MSU will hold its annual Yoga Jamboree this weekend.
The club will offer demonstrations of yoga, classes and therapy, all free-of-charge, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow in the Union's Ohio State Room.
"Students should do this so when they get to be my age, they'll still feel healthy," 53-year-old Rob Eschbach said. Eschbach is an instructor for the club and the director and founder of East Lansing's Yogic Sciences Research Foundation.
Aside from running the jamboree, Eschbach meets with yoga enthusiasts Wednesday nights in the Union to work on physical and breathing exercises and deep relaxation techniques.
Sitting on a small, plaid mat Wednesday night, Eschbach meditated with crossed legs and closed eyes, breathing calmly and offering instruction to those in similar positions around him.
Eschbach demonstrated various rocking exercises in this session, where the participants lied on their backs, wrapped their hands around their knees and rocked forward and backward.
The rocking works to align the spinal cord, Eschbach said, and "you get a free back massage."
Yoga is believed to have originated more than 3,000 years ago at the Shaolin Ssu, or Young Forest Temple, in China. The ancient art form combines a series of postures called "asanas" with controlled breathing techniques and meditation.
In recent years, the practice has been popularized in the mainstream media, through movies, television and by one heavily publicized material girl-turned-yogic enthusiast.
"I've heard that Madonna can put her foot all the way up on her head," said Jiang Pu, a curriculum, teaching and educational policy doctoral student. "It's impressive when people can do these things."
Pu, an international student from China, said she wasn't interested in yoga until some of her friends told her about the club, and she decided to check it out.
She has attended every week for the last three weeks.
Her initial interest in yoga sparked at a young age, when she saw a television program with a woman bending into all kinds of shapes, Pu said.
"I couldn't make my body go into those shapes," she laughed.
For the most part, the mainstream popularity is a good thing, but there are misconceptions being conveyed, Eschbach said.
"A lot of people have gotten the idea that it's a cult, but overall, it's positive," he said. "You can be a Christian and do yoga.
"The spirituality of it will enhance your Christianity."
At one time, yoga classes were offered at MSU through the university's kinesiology department, said Susan Creagh, the Department of Kinesiology's basic instruction program coordinator.
"At this time, there are no plans of reinstating yoga," she said.
