MICHAEL MEISINGER/Arizona Daily Wildcat

Like many people, nutrition senior Nichole Mahnert uses yoga as a way to relieve stress. Yoga classes are held twice a week at the Student Recreation Center.

Yoga classes at the Rec Center and the o.b.U. confidence tour provide relaxation

A nationwide tour coming to campus today may have the answer for female students who feel stressed by impending exams and papers piling up at the end of the semester.

An enormous number of college women who feel stressed sparked the creation of a national campus tour known as o.b.U, sponsored by o.b. Tampons.

The tour will visit the Park Student Union today from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The female empowerment workshop will feature a kickboxing station, confidence collage and free fruit smoothie bar.

"The overall concept of the event is to boost confidence," said Aimee Leonido, senior account executive for o.b.U. "But with boosting confidence comes minimizing stress."

The "Kick Your Way to Confidence" kickboxing station will emphasize the importance of exercise in reducing stress and heightening self-esteem.

"Fitness relieves stress and it puts you in the driver's seat; it's all about you and what you can accomplish," Leonido said.

A "Voices to be Heard" creative expression area will give women at the University of Arizona a chance to contribute to a national confidence collage that will travel to other colleges before being displayed in a women's museum or organization.

In addition to the o.b.U tour, the Student Recreation Center will also begin to offer a variety of yoga classes next semester, in addition to other fitness classes like tai chi.

There will be 15 classes per week and, for a fee of $120, students can participate in as many as they choose for 12 weeks. Until next semester, students can participate in yoga sessions from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays on Thursdays.

"Exercise is foundational to reducing stress. It helps the body in a myriad of ways," said Jeanne Missey, assistant director of fitness at Campus Rec.

She said every fitness class offered at the Rec Center is intended to relieve stress.

"In particular, mind/body meditative type classes bring the body down to a relaxed state," Missey said.

Missey said that in today's rushed world, the body needs to be relieved of its tension and exercise is a healthy way to do so.

"When we're stressed, the fight or flight complex happens and chemicals like adrenaline prepare the body," Missey said. "But we can't just run away, bang on the machine or bang on somebody else. So by exercising, feel-good chemicals that relax the body are released."

Yoga stretches and works the muscles while calming the mind through meditation.

"Yoga creates an ongoing conversation between the person and the body," Little said.

Carly Reeder, a dance freshman, said yoga provides a relaxing break from her stressful daily activities.

"I always have a million things going on at once," Reeder said. "I'm a dance major, so I have very little time to rest. To combat stress, I do yoga, which helps me to concentrate and clear my mind."

Ashtanga, a type of yoga offered at the Rec Center right now, engages in such moves as vinyasas and wall walks - all designed to relieve the body of stress.

"People store tension in different places in their body," said Elizabeth Little, a molecular and cellular biology graduate student and yoga instructor at the Student Recreation Center. "One girl in the class stores tension in her neck; many do in their quads. You see people start to straighten up and improve their posture when they're participating in yoga. Also, you can think more clearly because you're not as emotionally tense.