Yoga will relax you for the hour or two that you’re practicing it. And as you get into it more, yoga will change your life. “What I learn in the time that I spend on my mat is I take what I get there and use it throughout my day. It’s been a real profound thing for me,” said Carrie Shuler, the yoga instructor at the Waynesboro Family YMCA.

Shuler teaches intermediate-level yoga classes at the Y on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10-11:30 a.m. and another class on Wednesdays from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. that is aimed at beginners.

The benefits to yoga classes are twofold - there is a serious exercise benefit to the variety of stretches that are employed in the classes, and then there’s the meditative aspect to yoga that will change your life.

“I think it’s definitely a great way to find some relaxation in the body. Stretching and breathing is so good for relaxing the central nervous system, not to mention relaxing the mind. I know that in my own personal experience, I feel calmer, kind of more at peace. I’m gentler with people around me,” Shuler said.