College brings several stresses into the life of a student. Fortunately for students, HU Wellness is now offering free yoga classes every Monday and Wednesday night from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. in the Ganus Athletic Center fitness room.

Senior exercise science major Charli Lines is the instructor for the new class. Lines said she started the yoga certification process through a program called YogaFit last semester after her parents gifted her the certificate for her birthday. She attended an 18-hour certification class and is now a couple weeks away from being an officially certified yoga instructor. Lines said she was determined to get a free yoga class started at Harding.

“I just wanted (yoga) to be something for everybody to go to without having to pay to join, especially for the people that don’t really know what it is,” Lines said. “I would rather them get to figure it out for free.”

Senior Jordan Jones, one of Lines’ friends, motivated her to get her yoga certification. Jones attended the first two yoga classes, and she said she thinks having the class so late in the evening is a good idea because it helps her to relax and wind down from the busy day.

“With college comes a lot of stress, so it’s a really good way to end the day peacefully,” Jones said. “You can do it with your friends, and I really love it.”

Lines said she enjoys utilizing knowledge from her major to help benefit her yoga class. She said she explains what specific poses do to benefit the body and how they can help students in their daily lives.

Harding’s wellness coordinator, Christy Morgan, said it is great having an exercise science major teaching the yoga class. She said that exercise science teaches safety and injury prevention and gives trainers credibility.

“(Cline’s) into the exercise and passionate about it,” Morgan said. “She wants the class to be fun. Exercise can be hard, but if you make it fun it can help make it a little easier. It makes the whole exercise program better.”

Lines started an HU Yoga Facebook page to help people get more information about the class and to gather information from the participants. She said that it is a standard level class that is appropriate for any skill level.

“I had a lot of feedback on the Facebook page after the class (on Monday),” Lines said. “So many people showed up that I had to close the doors because there wasn’t any space left in the room. Everyone seemed really happy after they left. I hope to keep having that same influx of people coming.”