Marine Corps Base Quantico -- Rachel Meletis couldn’t say enough good things about the Indo YogaFit Balance Board class she had just completed at the Barber Physical Activities Center.
The eager Marine Corps Community Services employee was among the 13 participants in Friday morning’s therapeutic yoga class designed to better educate yoga instructors about the new activity designed to improve core strength, balance, flexibility, muscle strength and focus while simultaneously bringing mental peace of mind.
Meletis said she welcomed the challenge of balancing herself on the lightweight, six-foot long, 16-inch wide board because her efforts mirrored life as a whole.
“I love it,” she said. “Falling and getting up is like life — you fall and you get right back up.”
Yoga originated in India thousands of years ago as a way to simultaneously incorporate psychological and physical practices in the hopes of creating greater health, mental awareness and balance in yoga practitioners.
Originally designed to train surfers, the YogaFit Balance Board offers a new and entertaining manner for those seeking to practice yoga. The fad is quickly becoming en vogue, first arriving at Marine Corps Base Quantico in late December when officials from the Barber Physical Activities Center took leftover funds and purchased the boards at $300 apiece to add to its yoga ensemble, said Lisa Vice, health promotion/ group fitness coordinator for MCCS, Semper Fit.
“I think it’s going to be big,” she said.
Retired Marine gunnery sergeant Vic Hall was the only male in Friday morning’s class, but appeared just as at ease as the rest of his classmates. Hall, who spent 22 years in the Marine Corps before retiring in 2006, said he welcomed the chance to train himself and others on unstable surfaces and improve his overall core strength.
“As we get older,” he said, “balance becomes more critical.”
— Writer: jhollis@quanticosentryonline.com