Drop the book bag, kick off those shoes and socks, grab a mat, and get ready to stretch your horizons at one of UB's yoga classes.
It is instructor Jacqueline Bogdan's hope that after 45 minutes of stretching, twisting, balancing, and synchronizing every move with their breaths, students will have worked out some of the kinks of everyday life.
"Sometimes I fall asleep at the end," Kelly Vo, a senior social sciences major, said.
Vo, who goes to the gym on alternate days, uses the Tuesday and Thursday yoga classes to stretch and relax.
"It is really relaxing," Vo said. "I do Pilates by myself at home, and a lot of the moves are the same."
Bogdan, an instructor in Recreation and Intramural Services, is finishing up her fourth year as a yoga instructor at UB. Yoga, however, has been an integral part of her life for much longer than that.
In the fall of 1992, Bogdan found herself fresh out of college and faced with the stress of the working world. Due to her sleeping problems during high school and even college, she decided to turn to yoga.
"In the back of your mind, you just think there's got to be something more," Bogdan said.
After completing her yoga instructor training at the Himalayan Institute in downtown Buffalo, Bogdan and her husband moved to Honesdale, Penn. where she worked for a magazine and they both became active yogis.
Now, back in Buffalo for 10 years, they both continue to put into practice the ideals that yoga has instilled in them.
"Helping others, that is yoga," Bogdan said.
Although they both graduated from the same training program, Bogdan and her husband have taken their yoga skills in different directions.
Bogdan's husband is now a social worker and has put the theory of helping others to good use while Bogdan has continued to teach yoga classes at the Himalayan Institute and at UB. This is in addition to her other job as a graphic designer for Yoga International, a bi-monthly magazine put out by the Himalayan International Institute.
Work in a formal setting can be stressful, but Bogdan said she uses yoga to decompress.
"I would go into the handicapped stall and do torso rotations," Bogdan said.
Yoga has played a big part in how Bogdan interacts with others. Sometimes people tend to react to things quickly and just blurt out whatever comes to mind.
"I was one of those people that would 'open mouth, insert foot' all the time," Bogdan said. "I chewed on my toes."
Not only does yoga pervade into her work at the magazine, but it was also one of the reasons for a trip to India that Bogdan made five years ago with the Institute.
"We went for the Mahakumbamala," Bogdan said.
This month-long spiritual gathering brought more than 70 million people to the Ganges.
Bogdan and her fellow yogis not only had the privilege to meet the Dalai Lama in person, but they were also exposed to the reality of a life of poverty. Bogdan realized that there were no distinctions between these people and the rest of the world.
"It's not us and them," she said, "It's us."
The acceptance of cultural differences is a big part of yoga, and cultural diversity is one of the reasons that the Dalai Lama is coming to UB this September.
"He's the epitome of patience and perseverance," Bogdan said. "He has a constant awareness of the world."
Awareness is essentially at the core of yoga. It is an awareness of the student, their surroundings, and how the two fit together.
Marcus Hutchins, director of Recreation and Intramural Services, believes that due to her knowledge of the craft Bogdan is an asset to the department.
"Her level of expertise and enthusiasm in the area of yoga has helped to take our programming to the next level," Hutchins said. "She is a great person to work with. All of the students have had nothing but great things to say about her."
