To most people Ben Damon fits the stereotype of a jock. The 17-year-old senior plays football, basketball, and baseball at Santa Cruz High, but his favorite “sport” in the school’s athletic program happens to be … yoga. For four mornings a week, he and five dozen other students wobble barefoot on mats in the gymnasium; on Fridays they head to the beach to practice their exercises in the sand. His parents may think it’s “hysterical,” but “Afterward, you’re like, Oh my God, bring on the day!” he says.
Yoga is being offered for the first time this year by Santa Cruz high, as an alternative to other electives like bowling or tennis. According to teacher Kelly Andrews, the response has been overwhelming. The class now has 62 students, with many more clamoring to get in. Some are turning to private yoga schools in Santa Cruz, such as Pacific Avenue’s Bikram’s Yoga College of India. They’ve seen a rise in enrollment, especially among high school students.
Andrews says that yoga is not only good exercise, but also has a much needed calming effect on the students. As a wise swami once said: “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.” Read More at the Mercury News.
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Heidi Morgan Tue, Sep 22, 2009 - 11:48 am
My Dad, Junior Morgan, coached high school pys. ed in San Jose at Leigh and del Mar, Blackford and Branham and he, back in the day , would teach yoga postures, but if he TOLD them it was Yoga they would mutiny practically, so he stopped TELLING them that the exercises WERE yoga and they liked them. This was in the late sixties and early seventies!! (1960’s and 70’s)